International statistics on crime and justice

The objective of this report is to show users of international crime data what they could learn from these, and provide guidance as to restrictions, pitfalls and strengths of the unique set of data that is now available thanks to the countries that have responded to the United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems. The present report, prepared in partnership of HEUNI and the UNODC, for the first time pulls together global responses of the surveys.
The report comprises eight chapters. They are designed to deal with all central issues addressed in the surveys. First, police-recorded crime is discussed, with separate chapters on homicides (Chapter 1), other police-recorded crimes (Chapter 2), and drug-related crime and drug trafficking (Chapter 3). Also, complex crimes are analysed, such as organised crime, and trafficking in human beings (Chapter 4). Such offences have played a marginal role in traditional crime statistics, and in order to improve the relevance of the data on such offences, new solutions need to be developed. Chapter 5, shifting to the next stage of the criminal justice system, presents data on responses of the criminal justice system, including an innovation where attrition issues are being discussed. A parallel issue to responses of the criminal justice system are resources and performance. These are discussed in Chapter 6 where also a discussion on the punitivity of criminal justice systems is included. Next, a presentation on prison populations of the world closes the analysis of criminal justice data. The last chapter finally discusses challenges with crime and criminal justice statistics, arguing for the importance of further improvements in the area. [Editor's abstract]