The Kanun as a self-governance code in Italian-Albanian criminal contexts: a research conducted in the Republic of Albania.

The Kanun is an important manifestation of Albanian consuetudinary law in force at a given historical moment. It is characterized by the absence of institutions or bodies set up to design and impose rules, norms or precepts that could maintain order and ensure that within the community, the associates can live and carry out their activities in observance of and compliance with the rules and precepts imposed by the State authorities. Active operation according to the Kanun rules is not only common among the populations settled in the mountains of Albania but also, and above all, in the context of Albanian criminality which, as is well known, has also spread to Italy, creating partnerships and cross-contaminations with Italian crime.The research was carried out mainly in Albania at the bodies and institutions responsible for dealing with and controlling crime in the nation, but also focuses on the issue of connections with, and influences on, Italian crime.