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CroatiaStatistical Training
Courts Session 2, January 17th, 10.45 – 12.00
Overview of the Criminal Justice System and Statistics - Introduction
With funding from the European Union
DEVELOPMENT OF MONITORING INSTRUMENTS FOR JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTITUTIONS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 2009-2011 Phase three – Training
Context
The first step in organizing statistics is to identify the organizational structure (of both the Criminal Justice System and the Statistics) and to identify the use and users of the statistics
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Has a large influence on the statistics.
• Becomes very clear when looking at different jurisdictions
• Two examples:
Germany and the Netherlands
Recorded Suspected offenders
Prosecution decisions
‘Convicted’
Germany 7976 (100) 1067 (13)
The Neth 7663 (100) 960 (13)
• Year 2003, per 100,000 inhabitants
• ‘Convicted’ includes all case ending decisions where offender received a ‘penalty’ (e.g. Strafbefehl, Dutch ‘transactie’)
Germany and the Netherlands
Recorded Suspected offenders
Prosecution decisions
‘Convicted’
Germany 7976 (100) 2858 (36) 5784 (73) 1067 (13)
The Neth 7663 (100) 1797 (23) 1280 (17) 960 (13)
• Year 2003, per 100,000 inhabitants
• ‘Convicted’ includes all case ending decisions where offender received a ‘penalty’ (e.g. Strafbefehl, Dutch ‘transactie’)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Prosecutors per 100,000
Pro
se
cu
tio
ns
pe
r 1
00
,00
0
North/West
South
Central
East
USA
Belgium
Greece
Turkey Monaco
England & WalesFinland
Russia
Georgia
Kazak
hstan
Moldova
Belaru
s
Ukrain
eLith
uani
a
Latvia
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Prosecutors per 100,000
Pro
se
cu
tio
ns
pe
r 1
00
,00
0
North/West
South
Central
East
USA
Belgium
Greece
Turkey Monaco
England & WalesFinland
Russia
Georgia
Kazak
hstan
Moldova
Belaru
s
Ukrain
eLith
uani
a
Latvia
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
0 3 6 9 12 15
Prosecutors per 100,000
Pro
se
cu
tio
ns
pe
r 1
00
,00
0
North/West
South
Central
East
Canada
Denmark
GermanyIcelandIreland
Luxembourg
the Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Sweden
Croatia
Macedonia, FYR
Slovenia
Portugal
Italy
Cyprus
Malta
Albania
BulgariaRomania
Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland
Slovakia
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Kyrgyzstan
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
0 3 6 9 12 15
Prosecutors per 100,000
Pro
se
cu
tio
ns
pe
r 1
00
,00
0
North/West
South
Central
East
Canada
Denmark
GermanyIcelandIreland
Luxembourg
the Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Sweden
Croatia
Macedonia, FYR
Slovenia
Portugal
Italy
Cyprus
Malta
Albania
BulgariaRomania
Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland
Slovakia
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Kyrgyzstan
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Function/role can be different for different types of offences
• As a consequence organization of statistics can be different.
• The Neth: three types: Administrative offences / misdemeanors / crimes
• Croatia? (discussion)
Types of offences, the Netherlands
• Legally: Offences are divided into crimes (misdrijven) and infractions / misdemeanors (overtredingen)
• Procedural law and registration practices suggest another categorization:
Misdemeanors
Crimes
Category A
Category B
Category C
Misdemeanors
Crimes
Category A
Category B
Category C
Almost all traffic offences: speeding,
traffic light etc.
These are handled administratively
Misdemeanors (admin)
Wet Mulderzaken
Misdemeanors
Crimes
Misdemeanors
(admin)
Category B
Category CAll crimes: all theft, all violent crime etc.
also some traffic offences (DUI)
Economical and environmental misdemeanors
‘Crimes’Rechtbankzaken
Misdemeanors
Crimes
Misdemeanors
(admin)
Category B
‘Crimes’
All other misdemeanors
(driving without insurance, being
drunk and disorderly etc.)
Misdemeanor (other)
Kantonzaken
Misdemeanors
Crimes
Misdemeanors
(admin)
Misdemeanors
(other)
‘Crimes’
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
Police input Offenders Prosecutioninput
Courts
C: Crimes
B: Misdemeanors (other)
A: Misdemeanors (admin)
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Function/role can be different for adults and juveniles
• As a consequence organization of statistics can be different.
• The Neth: Hardly any differences
• Croatia? (discussion)
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Has the Prosecution Service monopoly in prosecuting cases? (Do cases in the courts only come from Prosecution)
• The Neth: Prosecution Service has monopoly
• Croatia? (discussion)
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Can police/prosecution impose sanctions? Or only courts? In theory or in practice?
• The Neth: Police only in practice, Prosecution can and does in a large number of cases.
• Croatia? (discussion)
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Is there only one jurisdiction?
• The Neth: yes; US, Germany: No
• Croatia?
Role and organization of (Prosecution and) Courts
• Is there a centralized register of criminal records?
• The Neth: Yes.
• Croatia? (discussion)
Organization of Statistics
• ‘Data Monitoring’ has three aspects:• Operational information
The actual data for handling a specific crime/case• Management Information
Data to monitor the performance of the organizations• Statistics
Data for research and policy making• Although, ideally, these will be feed from the same
source of data the use and the users are completely different
• I will talk about statistics, unless specifically mentioned otherwise
Organization of Statistics
• To improve the value of crime and justice statistics, there is a need for their collection, analysis and publication to be co-ordinated across agencies.
• If this is done common classifications, collection procedures and IT systems can be used
• Good statistical practice can be shared• Messages produced by the statistics can be shared between
agencies• There can be a common approach to analysis• There can be a common approach to publication, which will
enhance the usefulness of statistics and their existence can become more widely known to the public.
Possible role of the Central Statistics Office (CSO)
• The Central Statistical Office (CSO) is the place where statistical experience is concentrated in many countries.
• It therefore could have a central role in the development and the collection of crime and justice statistics
• The CSO can assist – To facilitate discussions on common issues– To share good practice between justice agencies– To develop statistical capacity in the different justice agencies
• If the CSO cannot undertake this role for any reason, then one of the agencies should take the lead, e.g. a statistical unit in the Ministry of Justice
Pros and cons of a Central Statistics Office (CSO)
• Advantages:– Uniformity– Efficiency– Seen as more independent– Statistics is their core bussiness– Linking with other statistics
• Disadvantages:– Timeliness– Level of detail– Knowledge of the Criminal Justice field
Need for a Statistics Law
• A Statistics Law gives the CSO and / or other agencies the right to collect crime and justice data:– Through surveys of individuals and organisations– Through registers kept by agencies– From agency information systems
• Many countries already have such a law• If not such a law needs parliamentary authority and
to be negotiated through the CSO.• The Law would ensure necessary and useful statistics on crime
and justice can be collected, analysed and published.• One of the main advantages is that the privacy issue can be
regulated by this law.
Need for a Crime and Justice Statistics Committee
• Discussions about common statistics issues should take place in a committee or similar forum
• All relevant crime and justice agencies should be represented on this forum
• The committee should be properly resourced and chaired at a high enough level for its conclusions to be taken seriously by senior management within the crime and justice agencies
• Its role should be closely defined and its progress managed by senior management
Suggestions for routine work of the statistics committee
• Committee should meet at least three times a year• Standing items should include reports from each agency of:
o Progress on developments in collecting statisticso Progress towards consistency of classificationso Progress on new analyses and publicationso Policy Uses made of statisticso Developments in infrastructure, including new members of staff,
improved training, new analysis, new IT.
• Minutes and papers of meetings should be placed on statistical web sites to encourage openness
Suggestions for less frequent activities of the statistics committee
• Conduct a survey of senior managers, to see what statistics would be useful for policy development but not yet available.
• Publicise the codes being used by various agencies to demonstrate differences and encourage harmonization.
• Invite a senior official, at Judge or Commissioner level to address the statistics committee on his views on statistics.
• Examine statistics on crime and justice from other countries should be examined to encourage the development of good practice.
• Co-operate with other countries with similar problems in the same region
Statistical Integrity
Statistics need to be fit for purpose: to have the followingcharacteristics to satisfy good Statistical Integrity: they need:
• to be collected at the appropriate frequency: eg every month• to be ready quickly, otherwise their value declines rapidly• to be internally consistent and to be consistent with previous
data. ( eg prosecution output should be consistent with courts input)
• Data collection procedures and revisions to these or to previous figures need to be open
• To be accessible to the public and the media.
Avoiding political interference
• Justice Statistics should be free from political interference, this means:o Statistics should be released to everybody at the same time to avoid
political misuse of the figures or their suppressiono There is a need for a list of contact point where people can ask further
questions about the statisticso A policy is needed for more detailed release on request: eg to
academics for research including making data anonymous.
• If this is not the case, it is important to work towards this and build agreements that work towards statistical independence.
Use and users of statistics
Crime data can be used for different purposes: solving crimes (we know that it is always the husband), preventing crimes (locally as well as more general), policy making, budgetting, informing the general public etc.
Use and users of statistics
Management information:
• Workload and resources in order to optimize processes
• E.g.:– number of cases per staff member– (Expected) input, by expected processing time
Users: managers
Use and users of statistics
Statistics (1), accountability: • General information mainly on number of
cases / offenders• E.g.:
– Sanctions by crime type– Number of prosecutions / convictions by crime
type
Users: parliament, media, international bodies, general public
Use and users of statistics
Statistics (2), research:
• Specific information for criminal research and policy development
• E.g.:– Reoffending– Development of crimes, by crime type
Users: policy advisers, researchers
Use and users of statistics
Some examples:
• Monitoring reoffending rates per offender group
• Forecasting of prison capacity
• Evaluation of policy measures
CroatiaStatistical Training
Courts Session 2, January 17th, 10.45 – 12.00
Overview of the Criminal Justice System and Statistics - Introduction
With funding from the European Union
DEVELOPMENT OF MONITORING INSTRUMENTS FOR JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTITUTIONS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 2009-2011 Phase three – Training
