Report of the Expert Group Meeting on Crime Statistics
I. Introduction
1. In its resolutions 1996/11 of 23 July 1996[1] and 1997/27 of 21 July 1997[2], the Economic and Social Council recommended that Member States established and encouraged the regular convening of an advisory steering group responsible for assisting in strengthening national capacities for the collection, analysis and dissemination of crime and criminal justice statistics. Council resolution 2005/23 of 22 July 2005, entitled “Strengthening reporting on crime”, further requested the convening of an open-ended expert group to consider ways and means of improving crime data collection, research and analysis with a view to enhancing the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other relevant international entities.
2. On the basis of these mandates, the meeting held from 28 to 30 January 2009 was a re-convened meeting of experts on crime statistics, with the specific task of assessing the current status of implementation of recommendations made by the open-ended expert group, which met from 8 to 10 February 2006.
Background
3. In line with its strategy for enhanced knowledge of trends in specific crime issues, and in accordance with Resolutions of the Economic and Social Council that request the Secretary-General to obtain and provide a cross-national picture of the patterns and dynamics of crime in the world,[3] the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime conducts the United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (UN-CTS). The Tenth UN-CTS was distributed to Member States in August 2007 and responses were published in December 2008.[4]
4. In accordance with the recommendations of the expert group meeting held from 8 to 10 February 2006, UNODC has embarked upon a programme of revision of the UN-CTS questionnaire, in addition to introducing interactive checking and review of data received in cooperation with external experts. Reviewed responses to selected Tenth UN-CTS variables have been disseminated by UNODC with extended metadata that aims to assist data users in establishing data quality and comparability across time and countries.
5. In the area of crime victimization surveys, UNODC in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has developed a Manual on Victimization Surveys. The goals of the Manual are to improve the quality of victimization surveys and to suggest approaches to improving comparability of victimization survey results.
II. Conclusions and recommendations
6. The expert group agreed on a number of conclusions and recommendations which are presented below:
The United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems
7. The UN-CTS questionnaire should be revised in order to improve response rate, produce more timely data and to minimize the reporting burden and complexity for Member States. This should be achieved through the development of a reduced UN-CTS questionnaire containing a core set of questions with annual periodicity, together with an ad-hoc thematic module which would change every year. The core set of items should include offences and suspects recorded by law enforcement agencies for the following crimes: intentional homicide; intentional homicide with firearm; attempted homicide; non-intentional homicide; assault; rape; robbery; theft; motor vehicle theft; burglary; drug-related crime; and drug-trafficking. The core items should also include questions on prison facilities, data concerning persons held in prisons, prison staff, and numbers of prisoners suffering from drug addiction and illness. For the next five years the expert group decided that each year, one of the following thematic modules should be implemented: corruption and counterfeiting, environmental crime, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, crime involving armed violence, and organised crime and kidnapping. In addition, questions relating to the criminal justice response of prosecution and court authorities may be addressed by modules. The order of these modules should be determined by relevant political priorities at the international level. The group additionally proposed that a module on crime related to acts of terrorism should be explored.
8. Data collection, in general, should continue to aim for a better understanding of the ways in crimes are committed, in addition to the extent to which they occur, together with information on the operation of criminal justice systems. Data collection and analysis should where possible serve the interests of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and may reflect the themes selected by the Commission for thematic discussion.
9. Further efforts should be made to establish a more effective procedure for reaching the appropriate providers of national data. This could be achieved through the establishment of a network of national contact points for crime and criminal justice statistics. The network should include contact points in national statistical offices, law enforcement, prosecution, courts and national penal administrations. For specific crime issues, including corruption and forms of organized crime, national contact points could also be established on a thematic basis. Member States were further encouraged to ensure internal coordination of crime and criminal justice data at the national level, including through the possible use of a single point of contact for such data.
10. At the regional and international level, data collection should be rationalized to increase its efficiency and to avoid duplication. International organisations and the institutes of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network and other regional bodies should support the process of collection and review of data through assisting in the identification of national focal points and through the analysis and checking of data.
11. In respect of the presentation and analysis of data, results from the UN-CTS core variables should be disseminated annually in a format conducive to data analysis, including through printed publications and interactive reports, accompanied by trend analysis and extended metadata as provided for selected variables in the Tenth UN-CTS. Results from UN-CTS core and modules should be analysed and presented in annual publications to be disseminated widely to relevant national and international stakeholders, including the academic and scientific communities. A more comprehensive analysis of available crime and criminal justice data should be produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in quinquennial reports, to be issued on the occasion of the United Nations Congresses on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
12. The visibility, accessibility and useability of UN-CTS data should be improved. In addition to improving data dissemination, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime should also consider ways in which awareness concerning the availability of data could be increased, including by highlighting links with other relevant international data collections.
Victimization Surveys
13. The expert group congratulated the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on production of the draft Manual on Victimization Surveys. Once finalized, the Manual should be used to support Member States, particularly developing countries, in the process of design and implementation of victimization surveys that are both locally relevant and internationally comparable. Cross-national comparability and methodological rigour may be enhanced through inclusion in the Manual of examples of existing approaches to questionnaire wording and design. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime should support capacity building for crime victimization surveys at the regional and national level.
Expert Group Meetings and Resources
14. A standing group of experts should continue to meet for the purposes of assisting and advising Member States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other relevant stakeholders on the collection and analysis of crime data and information.[5] Members of the expert group should assist the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the design of future waves of the UN-CTS questionnaire and other relevant activities.
15. Recognising that effective data collection and analysis requires available financial resources, the group called upon Member States to support the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the institutes of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme network with the financial resources necessary for the establishment of a network of national focal points and the support of a standing expert group.
III. Organization of the meeting
A. Opening of the meeting
16. The meeting of the expert group on crime statistics was held in Vienna from 28 to 30January 2009. It was opened by the Director of the Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
B. Attendance
17. The meeting was attended by 35 experts from 17 countries and representatives of the institutes of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme network, specialized agencies of the United Nations system and other regional organizations. A list of participants is contained in the annex to the present report.
C. Election of officers
18. The following officers were elected by consensus:
Chairman: Mr. Stephen Mihorean (Days one and two)
Mr. Roderic Broadhurst (Day three)
Rapporteur: Mr. Nasir Kamal
D. Adoption of the agenda
19. The meeting adopted the following agenda:
1. Opening of the meeting.
2. Election of officers.
3. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.
4. Topic 1: The United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems
5. Topic 2: Victimization surveys
6. Topic 3: Crime indicators and future work
7. Overarching issues, conclusions and recommendations on crime data collection
8. Adoption of the report and closing of the meeting
E. Adoption of the report
20. At its meeting on 30 January, the expert group considered and adopted its report.
IV. Summary of the discussion
Topic 1: The United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems
21. In respect of the current data collection system, the expert group recognised that in order to revise and improve the UN-CTS, it was important to understand the added value of the data collected, its policy relevance and the needs of data users. Members of the expert group highlighted that the value of the UN-CTS as a data source for policy development and crime prevention programming lay in its global, cross-national nature. Obtaining increased response rates, particularly from regions outside of Europe, represented a significant challenge to maintaining the value of data collection.
22. The meeting noted that, in addition to the UN-CTS, a number of other data collection initiatives existed at regional level, including that carried out by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat). There was a need to build on existing cooperation initiatives and to rationalize data collection across different international and regional organizations.
23. The issue of coordination among agencies at national level is also relevant. A number of experts pointed out that countries receive many questionnaires from international and regional organizations. These may require the collection of data from a number of different government ministries and organizations. It is often a challenge to coordinate these responses, particularly in developing countries.
24. Experts pointed out that some international data collections used very simple modes of data collection, such as an Excel spreadsheet which may facilitate the ease of response. Although attention was not always paid to detailed footnotes and metadata in questionnaires, experts agreed that metadata, such as information about crime definitions and counting rules, were crucial to providing meaning and context to crime statistics. More generally, experts identified the distinction between quantitative ‘data’ and qualitative ‘information’ and emphasized the importance and mutually re-inforcing nature of both.
25. Although response rates to the Tenth UN-CTS had increased compared with responses to the Ninth UN-CTS, the meeting expressed concern that response rates were still quite low. The issues of questionnaire length and mode of communication, data quality, data dissemination, and country response rate to the UN-CTS were inter-related issues. A number of suggestions were made to increase the level and quality of responses. These included:
§ Communicating more effectively to countries the value of providing data;
§ The organisation of regional meetings for review and analysis of data;
§ The establishment of national focal points for crime and criminal justice data;
§ Reducing the size and complexity of the UN-CTS questionnaire;
§ Supplying together with the questionnaire, data relating to previous years and details of previous national contact persons; and
§ Increased partnership and synergies with regional organizations.
26. Members of the expert group recognised that data provided by countries may present inconsistencies and that responses to questions may, on occasion, be misleading for the purpose of comparability. The group pointed out that there was a certain tension between disseminating data as reported and the responsibilities of the United Nations to provide accurate data where unexplained inconsistencies could be identified. The group made a number of suggestions in this respect:
§ Data quality should be effectively communicated in data dissemination, including through reference to international statistical dissemination standards;
§ In accordance with the recommendations of the expert group meeting in 2006, UNODC efforts in checking and review of data should be expanded;
§ Automated review of data may be useful in identifying potential inconsistencies in crime statistics; and
§ A greater use of direct communication (email and telephone) for clarifications relating to the UN-CTS could be useful.
27. The expert group welcomed the efforts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to disseminate information on selected variables of the UN-CTS with extended metadata in a format that enabled users to assess data quality and meaning. The group encouraged the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue with this process whilst balancing the quantity of metadata provided against ease of understanding and use.
28. Concerning data dissemination, many experts noted that the number of users registering for access to the full UN-CTS dataset on the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was low, expecially when compared with the overall number of visitors to the UNODC webpages and the number of users of national websites providing crime statistics. Further understanding of the needs of data users may be obtained on the basis of information already collected from respondents who volunteered to fill in a short questionnaire.