1. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Prosecution Statistics Part 2 Crime, Justice & Security Statistics Produced in Collaboration between World Bank Institute and the Development Data Group (DECDG)

2. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Source of Statistics – Registers Prosecution statistics should be consistent across the country so each office should work to the same rules, which need to be set down clearly. Statistics should be based on current procedures for recording cases (typically a mixture of registers and case papers). Statistics on staff would be taken from the registers of employment, recruitment and those leaving. There should be no change in procedures before statistics should be collected. Statistics should not wait on new technology. 2

3. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Statistics Rules Statistical Rules, often called counting rules mean that every prosecution office does the same thing They will be written by the center, perhaps with assistance from others, such as the police or the CSO, with experience of other counting rules They set out what ought to be collected, which registers to draw data from, how to complete the forms and how to make the return to the centre. They give details of what degree of detail is wanted, and how frequently the data ought to be collected They can be modified from time to time, eg if technology improves. 3

4. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Use of Information Technology Good computer equipment, including software and training in its use will make statistics very much easier to collect and analyse. However, statistics development should not wait on good technology. The principles of statistics collection, as described in this module can be carried out with pre-IT technology, paper forms, telephones and Fax machines. Information technology should be introduced as resources become available and statistics be simply one aspect of their application, along with management and accountancy. 4

5. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Introducing Good IT systems PCs, with WORD, EXCEL, Internet explorer and OUTLOOK are perfectly adequate for the vast majority of statistics that developing countries will need for the next decade. These PCs should be introduced, first at HQ, then in regional offices and finally at all prosecution offices. IT training for statistical officers should consist of basic understanding of EXCEL, ACCESS and WORD, rather than more complex packages such as SPSS. The first priority should be to make sure that basic registers are recorded on EXCEL spreadsheets. Training is then needed in the use of the Internet to make it easier to pass data to central office. Finally ACCESS could be used to devise new data collection instruments that can feed directly into analysis packages. 5

6. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Relation to IT Management systems Although statistics can be produced without IT systems, eventually all prosecution services will seek to introduce an IT system to improve its general management. The system will seek to record case papers and decisions, schedule cases, deal with financial matters and other management issues. When this happens it is important that the need for statistics is fed in, at an early stage to the user requirement for such a management system. Statistics should not wait for an IT management system to be introduced 6

7. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Analysis of data Having collected a lot of data on prosecution workloads, outcomes and resources, it is important that this is analysed and made available routinely to senior officials in the prosecution service and other justice agencies Monthly summaries of workload, successful and unsuccessful prosecution and other outcomes should be produced routinely, together with a commentary highlighting the main points. Annual summaries of resources should be produced Some summary data should also be returned to the local prosecution office so they can see how their local situation fits into the wider picture. This also improves the statistics. From time to time the recipients of statistics should be asked to confirm their usefulness and things that are missing 7

8. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Target setting Statistics are useful for monitoring targets that have been set for the Prosecution Service A good example is the South African National Prosecuting Service. Each year a series of targets is set and statistics monitor how far targets have been met. The next slide shows the published data for 2008 Targets were set for: reducing court backlogs and court rolls, successful outcomes of cases and the appointment of new court officers. 8

9. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Target setting 9

10. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Publication of Prosecution Statistics Statistics of prosecution workloads, outcomes and resources could be published in summary form. A good way to do this is as part of an annual report on the prosecution service. However, separate statistics could be produced on a more frequent basis if needed. The British Crown Prosecution Service include the workload and staff statistics in its annual report and its outcome statistics in monthly tables on its web site http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/performance/case_outcomes/20 10_03/ http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/performance/case_outcomes/20 10_03/ 10

11. Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. UK Prosecution Outcome data 11