Corporate Security and Private Settlement: An Informal Economy of Justice

THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AND CONNECTIONS WITH ORGANISED CRIME: THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICIES, pp. 113-129, J. Shapland, P. Ponsaers, eds., The Hague: Boom Legal Publishers (BJu); Also available from Willan Publishing, October 2009

6 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2009 Last revised: 13 Jan 2010

See all articles by Nicholas Dorn

Nicholas Dorn

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Clarissa Meerts

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Law; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Criminology, Students

Date Written: October 1, 2009

Abstract

What is the relationship between corporate security, its services to private sector companies or to public sectors agencies, and criminality‘ On the basis of interviews carried out primarily in the Netherlands with senior figures in corporate security and with public prosecutors, the reasons for clients to prefer a private settlement instead of public action through the criminal justice system are discussed: secrecy, discretion, legal flexibility and control. However, private settlement may also facilitate criminal learning and displacement. The authors explore this possibility and, extending the work of James Williams, ask why the public sector allows corporate security such autonomy. Further work is needed on corporate security’s ability to move across the boundaries of public and private multiple legal orders, and on the implications for crime prevention.

Keywords: corporate security, employee crime, private settlement, criminal displacement and facilitation, legal orders

Suggested Citation

Dorn, Nicholas and Meerts, Clarissa, Corporate Security and Private Settlement: An Informal Economy of Justice (October 1, 2009). THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AND CONNECTIONS WITH ORGANISED CRIME: THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICIES, pp. 113-129, J. Shapland, P. Ponsaers, eds., The Hague: Boom Legal Publishers (BJu); Also available from Willan Publishing, October 2009 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1498331

Nicholas Dorn

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Charles Clore House
17 Russell Square
London, WC1B 5DR
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://ials.sas.ac.uk/about/staff/staffres.asp

Clarissa Meerts (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Law ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.frg.eur.nl/pub/sectie_criminologie/sectieleden/

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Criminology, Students ( email )

Netherlands

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