The paper analyses the relationship between organised crime and corruption, from a criminological and legal perspective, both at the domestic and the cross-border level. As to the latter, it is explored the link to the notion of "transnational crime" under Law 146/2006. The analysis is then devoted to the EU and international law as well, whose instruments shaped the domestic legislation in these areas of crime. The empirical mix between criminal organisations (including the Mafia-style ones) and corrupt practices influences criminal law policies, that eventually merged, as demonstrated by the recent Law 3/2019 (so-called "spazzacorrotti"). The said osmosis of preventative and repressive strategies, potentially leading to an oversimplified unification, raises new and deep concerns about the fundamental criminal law safeguards
In 2006, a new legislative type of crime was introduced in the Italian criminal justice system: the "transnational" crime, which comprises every feature and effect a criminal behaviour could have in more than one State and connects it with relevant consequences as to the punishment. Nevertheless, said label could refer to legal (and even social) spaces in which the crime presents itself differently than the underlying behavior: indeed, any social agglomeration might mark out, in a different way, an element of a crime. An instance thereof could be found in a specific Italian law, enacted against Mafia (art. 7, d.l. 152/1991), introducing an aggravating factor that could permanently alter the substance of the crime. From this point of view, many systematic questions arise, seriously challenging the abilities of experts in legal interpretation.