Analysis of new data from the UN-CTS 2017/2018 Michael Jandl Data Development and Dissemination Unit UNODC

United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (UN-CTS) Worldwide annual data collection sent to UN Member States Network of 140 Focal Points worldwide In 39 countries in Europe: Joint data collection with Eurostat Around 100 responses every year CTS 2018 data validation closed, data published in May 2018. New data portal: https://dataunodc.un.org/crime  CTS 2017/2018: focus on some new indicators

Criminal offences by ICCS level 1 categories It is notable that in Northern Europe (Denmark and Finland), public safety is much higher than elsewhere, why?

“Conviction rates” by ICCS level 1 categories I Dividing persons convicted by persons brought into formal contact by ICCS level 1 categories Total conviction rates are extremely high for Eastern Europe and extremely low for Northern Europe, while they are close for Western/Southern Europe – why?

Persons held in prison by ICCS level 1 categories Typically persons convicted for more serious crimes take a larger share than in offences. Notable: Eastern Europe has a lot of "other criminal acts"; Southern Europe (Spain) has a lot of acts against property involving violence; Western Europe (Switzerland) has a lot of acts against property and acts involving psycho-active substances

Persons held in prison by ICCS level 1 categories Persons held in prison divided by Persons entering prison is an indicator for the average duration of time persons spend in prison. This is higher for more serious crime (acts leading to death; injurious acts of a sexual nature). Few countries are able to provide both data sets consistently.

Legal representation in criminal courts The number of persons brought before the criminal courts with legal representation at no cost is an indicator for legal aid provided. However, no country in Europe provided these data. 2 countries said that all persons need to have legal representation by law.

Police personnel by function Data on police personnel by function need further improvement and standardization. Number of countries reporting this is fairly low (7 from Europe). Some countries only report under prevention (EST, NL), one only under detection (ALB)

Prison personnel by function Data on prison personnel by function is available for 17 countries from Europe. All reporting countries are able to divide the staff by 3 functions. The share of prison staff working on education/training/health is higher in Northern and Western Europe.

Feeling of “safety” Data from population surveys on “feelings of safety” are available for 11 countries. Generally very high feeling of safety in most European countries. Feelings of safety seem to be stable over time. Some issues with low values and definitions of “feeling safe” (e.g. Switzerland? Italy? Lithuania?)

UNODC “Data Day” To streamline the various UNODC data collections on drugs and crime, in 2019 a new initiative was taken to launch all UNODC data collections on the same day and announce the start through a single message to UN Permanent Missions. 2 May 2019 = Data Day! (deadline for returning data = 30 June 2019) Message sent to UN Permanent Missions and Focal Points (except Eurostat) All data collection instruments (questionnaires) at the data collection portal (a country-specific website): UN-CTS, as well as questionnaires on illicit drugs, Illicit arms flows, trafficking in persons). (the URL link is unique and can be accessed only by the country) Joint data collection with Eurostat remains the same; Eurostat will send out UN- CTS questionnaire to countries covered by Eurostat; deadline remains 15 September 2019.

Thank you for your attention UNODC Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/crime-and-criminal-justice.html Contact: CTS@unodc.org