The first goal of the commissione was to regulate the use of violence. Many stories tell of the obstacles encountered by mafiosi in obtaining permission to commit a murder (SC: IV, 45, 68; VS: 132; TC: 20-21 ; TB: I, 14, 84, 100, 106; VM: 27). Permission had to be granted by the boss of the territory in which the murder was to take place, and the commissione was supposed to enforce this rule. If permission was not requested, the murder was interpreted as an act of war, or at least of defiance.

XREF: Connects to broader organizational/dispute-resolution systems where centralized authority regulates localized violence.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 293