Economic and Social Council

 
45th plenary meeting
23 July 1996

 1996/11. International cooperation and assistance in the management of the criminal justice system: computerization of criminal justice operations and the development, analysis and policy use of crime and criminal justice information

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 46/152 of 18 December 1991 on the creation of an effective United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme, in the annex to which it is stipulated that the general goals of the programme should be to contribute to, inter alia, more efficient and effective administration of criminal justice, with due respect for the human rights of all those affected by crime and all those involved in the criminal justice system, and in paragraph 5 of which the Assembly decided that the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme should provide States with practical assistance so as to prove their response to crime,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 45/109 of 14 December 1990 on the computerization of criminal justice, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to establish, in cooperation with the network of institutes for the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders affiliated with the United Nations, a technical cooperation programme for the computerization of criminal justice information in order to offer training, assess needs and formulate and execute specific projects,

Recalling further its resolution 1992/22 of 30 July 1992, section I, in which it reaffirmed the request of the General Assembly to the Secretary-General to strengthen the programme as a whole, so as to enable it to further develop clearing-house facilities in relation to crime prevention and criminal justice issues, including the capacity to match the needs for training with the opportunities available to meet them,

Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary- General on the draft action plan on international cooperation and assistance with regard to statistical and computerized applications in the management of the criminal justice system, 1/

Mindful that the development of a more structured framework is critical to the delivery of the activities described in the above- mentioned report of the Secretary-General and that an international technical cooperation infrastructure is important in facilitating the access of Member States to relevant resources and information regarding existing programmes and projects,

Emphasizing the common problems faced by all Member States in the administration and computerization of criminal justice,

Emphasizing also that developing countries, countries with economies in transition and developed countries, by enhancing their capacity to exchange information at the international level, may benefit from international cooperation in the computerization of criminal justice information,

Acknowledging the importance of the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network and the United Nations On-line Crime and Justice Clearing-house in the development of the information-sharing capacity of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme undertaken through collaborative efforts of the institutes comprising the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network,

1. Urges Member States, governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector to assist the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the institutes comprising the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, in strengthening the technical cooperation capacity of the network by:

(a) Establishing an advisory steering group, administered by the Secretary-General in close coordination with the institutes comprising the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, including assistance from the administration of the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network and the United Nations On-line Crime and Justice Clearing-house, drawing upon extrabudgetary resources, which would be responsible for:

(i) Reviewing and assessing, at the request of Member States, their national experiences in the computerization of criminal justice operations and criminal justice information systems;

(ii) Giving advice to the Secretary-General on the establishment of the technical cooperation programme;

(iii) Giving advice to the Secretary-General on the activities of the technical cooperation programme;

(iv) Informing Member States of funds and services that might be available from various donors in the governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental and private sectors;

(v) Informing such donors of the needs of Member States for assistance;

(vi) Consulting with relevant experts in the field of criminal justice;

(vii) Assisting Member States, at their request in developing criteria and mechanisms for the establishment of a platform for the exchange of information between distinct entities able to provide information and experience useful for the management of the criminal justice system;

(b) Identifying a standing pool of experts for the practical implementation of technical cooperation activities, in particular for:

(i) Assessing needs in both the computerization of criminal justice operations and the development of criminal justice information systems;

(ii) Designing and coordinating training programmes in both the computerization of criminal justice operations and the development of criminal justice information systems;

(iii) Assisting in the design, development and implementation of actual computerization projects;

(iv) Providing other needed expert advice as requested;

(c) Actively participating in the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network and the United Nations On-line Crime and Justice Clearing-house through:

(i) Adopting the conceptual design of the United Nations On-line Crime and Justice Clearing-house, that builds upon the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network, as a model for international sharing and dissemination of information and consulting with other participating Member States and United Nations bodies on information exchange policies, procedures and standards;

(ii) Establishing national points of contact for electronic communications in relevant government agencies;

(iii) Making national public information in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice available on the Internet via linkages with the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network and the United Nations On-line Crime and Justice Clearing-house;

2. Requests the Secretary-General, in concert with experts from interested States and the institutes comprising the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, to conduct, using existing resources of the regular budget of the United Nations, a survey of national capacities for the collection of crime statistics, as a supplement to the Fifth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, using as a draft guide the form annexed to the present resolution;

3. Calls on Member States to contribute to the survey of national capacities by providing the necessary information in a timely manner;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to keep the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice informed about the progress made;

5. Calls on Member States to assist the Secretary-General in funding the establishment of the advisory steering group, in identifying the standing pool of experts, and in funding the activities called for in the present resolution.

Annex

FORM FOR THE SURVEY OF NATIONAL CAPACITIES FOR THE COLLECTION OF DATA ON CRIME PREVENTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

COUNTRY --------------------------------------------------------------------

AGENCY ---------------------------------------------------------------------

STATISTICS PRODUCED

1. Does the country have statistics on crimes reported or detected by law enforcement agencies?

Yes No

For all crimes ----- -----

For some crimes ----- -----

(a) The statistics include:

National data ----- Regional data ----- Provincial data -----

From all regions Yes No From all provinces Yes No

(b) The statistics include the following:

Breakdown by legal property involved Yes No

Breakdown by crime Yes No

Breakdown by sex Yes No

Breakdown by age Yes No

Existence of a link between victim of violent crime and offender Yes No

Instances of violence against persons Yes No

Instances of violence against property Yes No

Use of firearms Yes No

Agency receiving the report Yes No

(c) The statistics are generated:

Periodically Yes No

At the following intervals: Monthly ----- Quarterly -----

Half-yearly ----- Yearly -----

2. Does the country keep national statistics on crimes committed, including an estimate of the number of unreported crimes? If yes, give a brief description of the method used to calculate the number of unreported crimes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE AGENCY OR AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA COLLECTION

3. Does the country have any national public agency with the task of compiling and preparing statistics? Does it prepare and compile information relating exclusively to crime prevention and criminal justice?

(a) Are the preparation and compilation of statistics on crime prevention and criminal justice the main task of this agency or does it carry out this task merely as a sideline to other, principal activities? If so, what is the principal activity of the agency?

Note: If a number of agencies have this task, provide the information requested below only in respect of the agency whose main function is to compile and prepare statistics.

(b) Does this agency prepare its own statistics or does it collect statistics prepared by other agencies?

(i) If it prepares its own statistics:

a. Does it do so for all crimes or only certain crimes? If so, for which crimes?

b. Does it use the official figures produced by the same type of source for all its investigations or does it use different figures depending on the phenomenon to be investigated?

c. It draws its information from:

Judicial proceedings -----

Police reports -----

Other sources -----

d. Is there a standard procedure for conducting these investigations or does it vary depending on the phenomenon to be investigated?

e. When the scale of the investigation exceeds the agency's operating capacity, does it enter into agreements with other agencies? If yes, does it use private or public agencies?

f. Does it look at the level of unreported crimes as a matter of course? Indicate the procedure used.

g. Are there any legal provisions governing the agency's data collection activity?

(ii) If the agency compiles statistics produced by other agencies:

a. The data are supplied by:

Regional agencies -----

Provincial or State agencies -----

Private agencies -----

Public agencies -----

b. Does it obtain information from a single agency or a number of agencies?

c. Give a brief description of the data collection procedure used by the agency providing the information and of the centralization method developed by the agency dealing with that information.

d. Is the information received subject to any form of control? If so, please describe.

e. Are there are any legal provisions that govern the data compilation activity of the centralizing agency? Describe the provisions.

INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE AGENCY

4. How many staff members does the agency permanently employ to compile and prepare crime prevention and criminal justice statistics?

1-5 ----- 6-10 ----- 11-20 -----

21-30 ----- 31-40 ----- 41-50 -----

More than 50 -----

5. Does it have dedicated data-processing equipment for the task? Give a brief description.

6. Does the agency publish the results of its work? How frequently?

Name of the agency: ------------------------------------------------------

Reporting to: ------------------------------------------------------------

Head of the agency: ------------------------------------------------------

Address: -----------------------------------------------------------------

Telephone: ---------------------------------- Postal code: --------------

OTHER AGENCIES

7. If there are other agencies that are capable of providing statistical information in your country, please give the following details:

Name of the agency: -----------------------------------------------------

Reporting to: -----------------------------------------------------------

Head of the agency: -----------------------------------------------------

Address: ----------------------------------------------------------------

Telephone: ---------------------------------- Postal code: --------------

Name of the agency: ------------------------------------------------------

Reporting to: ------------------------------------------------------------

Head of the agency: ------------------------------------------------------

Address: -----------------------------------------------------------------

Telephone: ----------------------------------- Postal code: --------------

Note

1/ E/CN.15/1996/13 and Corr.1.

Date last posted: 5 December 1999 14:44:20
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