kup_15

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics

National and International Perspectives

Edited by

Jorg-Martin Jehle and Chris Lewis

Wiesbaden 1995

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics : National and International

Perspectives / [Kriminologische Zentralstelle e.V.]. Ed. by

Jorg-Martin Jehle and Chris Lewis. - Wiesbaden: KrimZ, 1995

(Kriminologie und Praxis ; Vol. 15)

ISBN 3-926371-24-2

NE: Jehle, Jorg-Martin [Hrsg.]; Kriminologische Zentralstelle

< Wiesbaden>; GT

“"74

& it

w (L

noee® &

7oy

©

Eigenverlag Kriminologische Zentralstelle €.V

KRIMINOLOGISCHE

KrimZ

ZENTRALSTELLE E.V.

Adolfsallee 32, 65185 Wiesbaden

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Printed in Germany

ISBN 3-926371-24-2

Preface

Since the beginnings of criminal statistics in the early 19th century

their use as instruments for measuring the true amount of crime has been

controversial. Nevertheless, they are still important up to the present day.

These data are used to justify policies, to decide on measures of crime

prevention and crime control and to make statements about the working of

the criminal justice system. In spite of all methodological doubts, these

figures are still referred to in criminology, as there are no real alternatives

to them. Even victim (or crime) surveys, originally intended to replace

recorded crime statistics, can only complement them; this is because - accor-

ding to latest criminological thinking - such surveys measure different

concepts from these statistics. Since criminal statistics have maintained or

retained their relevance, it is all the more important to face and attempt to

solve all those methodological problems brought up since the days of

Quetelet and other pioneers in the field of criminal statistics.

If these observations ar¢’already true for the respective national situa-

tion, to which criminal statistics are normally related, they are all the more

valid when one tries to compare the criminal statistics of different coun-

tries. With the world closing up ("global village") and Europe growing

together, not only economic or social comparisons are needed, but there

also exists a demand to compare the developments of criminality as well as

the criminal policies and the criminal justice systems of different countries.

This was the starting point for a workshop organized by the editors and

titled "Improving Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics - National and

International Perspectives", which took place on the 11th International

Congress on Criminology in Budapest in August 1993. In order to prepare

the workshop the editors asked the contributors to answer the following

questions in regard to their respective national situation:

Are there any statistics covering the whole area of police and criminal

justice in the respective countries?

Are there any partial statistics, and if so, how are they connected? Are

they compatible?

What can be said about reliability and value of data of statistics?

What will be the future developments regarding survey modes and

computerization of data collection and evaluation? How can the availa-

bility of the data be improved?

How far can official statistics in future be replaced or complemented by

victim surveys and microcensus?

Is it possible to establish international comparability/compatability of

national statistics?

This volume contains most of the papers presented at the conference

and revised for this publication as well as some complementary contribu-

tions by other authors.

After an introductory chapter, which describes the initial position and

the present difficulties of the national criminal statistics and of their inter-

national comparability, the situation in several West and East European

countries is shown. This is supplemented by reports from Africa as an

example of developing countries and from Canada as an example of a non-

European developed country.

A concluding chapter discusses problems of international comparability

and of concrete initiatives to carry out such comparisons.

The editors would like to thank those responsible for the execution of

the 11th International Congress for Criminology, especially the head of the

organization committee, Professor Katalin Gonczol, and the head of the

scientific commission, Professor Hans-Jiirgen Kerner. But they would like

to express their gratitude primarily to the speakers of the mentioned work-

shop and all the other contributors to this volume.

Wiesbaden, London

Jorg-Martin Jehle, Chris Lewis

May 1995

Contents

Preface

(1 OLONO QN0N0 UG 0RO 0N NG OR0 IGR O GRORORGE QR0 DL 0S0N0 00 O GrOR0Y 0RO OROEON QU U S0 0 D

Introduction

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics -

11

Needs and Prospects

I T I R A I

Jorg-Martin Jehle

I1

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in

Different Countries

Danish Criminal Justice Statistics

G40 OM0 O O CLUN 0RO 0 GG 0RO 100 O LT

31

Paul Henning Larsen

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice

in England and Wales

G000 ORORO O IORGED O 0R0 GG EORON 0N G USR0S0 URQ UG G

35

Gordon Barclay

CROY O G G0 O 0

47

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

Richard Blath

Greek Crime Statistics

CRUY OO0 AORO O SOI0 SOr RN RO O OO 0P ORD Or GO U O

67

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

Brief Review on the Situation of the

ST el B1il6 6116 98] 6§ 4560 8) (6 ) o6 ekt ertoONIY)

89

Hungarian Crime Statistics

Sdandor Erdosi

Statistical Data Collections on Crime

and Criminal Justice in Italy

109

Armando Caputo

Crime and Criminal Justice

Statistics in the Netherlands

44 a0 60 640588, S 0 8 &G TSHEE

117

Max M. Kommer

Criminal Statistics in Poland

00 000 00000000000 000000

127

Jerzy Jasinski

00 000 d0 00000000 4d000000

135

Criminal Statistics in Portugal

J. de Seabra Lopes

10

The Swedish System of Criminal Statistics

The Scope of the Statistics

© o 4 o s s s s s s s s e 6 s s s s e 0 o e s e e

141

Torbjormn Israelsson

11

An Example from the Developing Countries

Criminal Justice Statistics in Africa

147

N. Masamba Sita

12

An Example from Overseas:

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

155

Sange de Silva

111

International Efforts and Prospects

International Studies and Statistics

on Crime and Criminal Justice

000000000000 00000000

167

Chris Lewis

International Comparison of Crime and

Criminal Justice Statistics

177

Max M. Kommer

International Prospects for

D T T AR

193

Statistics of Criminality

Jean Gratia

The European Criminal Justice

Sourcebook Project

GO0 0 0000000000000 00000000

203

Martin Killias

List of Contributors

OLOTO 0 00 0000 OO 000 000000000 Q0000 GG

213

I. Introduction

e

pa ST

%

§e

94"(35‘

3

s

T

‘i’&?x

n

ot

o

e

I

i

o

4

i

Y

a0

o

i

2

Ty

e

W

i

i

3

B

i

.

o

i

i

i

s

B

o

%

3

o

a5

.‘.%;.’

iy /0

S

£

&

!

i

ik

e

o

i

ipg)

o

s

Ry

v

i

o

&

oy

Al

b

i

i

ek

£

2]

e

z

B

A

%

T

&y

e

!

¥

-

R

&

e

A5

i‘f{;

o

i

o

it

i

£

e

i

e

5

&

i5e

o

e

i

e

o

i

A

g

.

il

5

Bk

e

ar

.

i

R

3

pOs

e

D

gty

i

b

23

i

1o

g

B

e

B

e

i

B

R

5

R

ey

I

]

sy

w G

-

MR

i

.4;;'1&

s

&

0

=

Slaing

s

s

¥

.

i

-

7

4

e

i

i

I

X

Y

5

e

2

i

3

o

il

x

IR

o

s

ey

b

a5

{,’j,

i

i

e

ot

o

£

ik

s

'e

e

b

i

i

0

E0

A

6

v

el

gk

iy

e

o

b

‘%ﬂ&

R

by

e

.

B

o

2

o

e

o

4

g

Loy

e

i

e

L

5

o

ot

:*’

E

i

7%

i

i

e

e

o

i

gl

)

@*"

i

3

il

G

3y,

::‘ji

b %

b

o

o

A%

s

&

{a

e

o

4

iy

n’l

o

o

f

i

&

Y

o

g

o

il

2

o

.

¥

i

s

15

o

&

it

I

A

i

P

o

b

o

i

s

o

5

o

o

P

g

e

&

o>

)

I

e

&

o

T

i

Aok

Ty

o

e

5

&

rh;

e

b

e

;-

.

a

i

s

%

H

s

i

7

;‘Q‘

o

e

T

3

e

e

A3

e

o

5

B

25

o

=

L

%

e

o

o

ad

2

?s

.

¥

5

N

o

5

k)

{d

o

bt

&

i

v

o,

b

s

e

¢

e

&t

i

o

i

o

o

L

2}

o

¥

o

Es

1

g

g

53

1

e

s

%

Ey

:a!"

L)

it

gy

vt

g1

:

e

#

e

1

i

<

2

o

e

.

e

kY

5l

kgt

i

i

5,

b2

e

:‘

B

1

e

e

g

’5’&‘

%

o

S

N

g

o

=

%

%‘

2t

fl

oy

T

5

(s

)

:

7}5.'%

Sk

ol

o

ot

6

=

el

3

it

%

;

i

i

G

o

e

ey

g

&

i

o

.

&

£

)

o

3

i

b

S

o

ot

i

s

o

?

(e

i

i

)

"

i

fa

i

o

cy’r

A

|

e

o

-

b

5

o

(N

4

b

7

b

e

S

5

Gy

&

by

i

i3

o

o

ke

i

o

o

P

ac

%

i

ey

A

i

.

4

o

i

o

7

i

e

bl

i

el

b

b0

i

&5‘

it

.i/‘»

i

i

o

i3l

ey

R

o

s

o

o

7

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics

- Needs and Prospects

Jorg-Martin Jehle

I. Do we need Official Data Collections of the Criminal Justice System

for Purposes of Research and Policy?

As in all fields of state affairs, the prosecution of criminal offences and

the execution of sentences have to be planned, personnel and material

resources have to be provided and organisation measures have to be taken.

Thus it is clear that the police and the criminal justice agencies need

systematically to collect data for purposes of organization and planning. But

ever since the creation of official criminal statistics in the early 19th century

other objectives than these purely internal ones have been aimed at. The

statistics enable people to make statements about the reality of crime and

once there also existed the idea that the figures should indicate the "general

moral health of a nation".

Today expectations are not that high-pitched any more. But still now

official statistics are used for the interests of criminal law policy and

criminology. However, it is by now undisputed that criminal statistics offer

no true picture of the reality of crime and its prosecution, but can only

provide a framework of selective data. Insofar there are also no doubts that

the figures cannot speak for themselves. They rather need careful

interpretation, in which it is considered how, by whom and for what

purpose the data are collected, how they are categorized and in which form

they are represented.

1

Zacharii 1832, quoted by Heinz, W.: Die Deutsche Kriminalstatistik. Uberblick iiber ihre

Entwicklung und ihren gegenwirtigen Stand; in: Kriminalstatistik, vol. 5 of the BKA-

Bibliographienreihe, Wiesbaden 1990, p. 7.

12

Jorg-Martin Jehle

Yet restrictions of the validity of the statistics are not only the result of

these inherent limits, but in addition are due to the fact that already the

collecting of the data is not always sufficient or reliable. This is true for the

crime statistics of the police as well as of the personal and other statistics

of the courts and public prosecutors. Should we therefore do better without

collecting data, because officially collected data are completely unusable,

as some authors® seem to suggest? The answer to this question is clearly

no, as there are no alternative sources of data which can offer comparable

information.

Modern criminology has created methods like population surveys, the

so-called victim or crime surveys, qualitative interviews and the analysis of

criminal records and files. They all supply information about the actual

extent of criminality and victimization and about the treatment of criminal

offences and offenders by the police and criminal justice. These pieces of

information are different and partly more exact and detailed than those in

the criminal statistics®. Nevertheless, with regard to an overall picture of

the official control measures of criminality these special instruments of

criminology can only supplement, but never replace official criminal

statistics.

In spite of all their obvious shortcomings and one’s reasonable doubts

one still can say that the official statistics in the fields of the police and

criminal justice are indispensable for the criminal law policy, administration

of criminal justice and for criminology.

However, they have to be improved and moreover to be supplemented

by other scientific survey methods such as crime surveys and the analysis

of criminal records and files.

These methodological observations refer to the national situation where

improvements of the criminal statistics have to be undertaken (s. below IL.).

2 E.g. Pfeiffer/Strobl; on the present German debate see further Kriminologie und Praxis,

vol. 8; Jehle, J.-M.: Pladoyer fiir bessere Kriminalstatistiken; Neue Kriminalpolitik 1994,

pp- 22 ff.

On an international level see the outstanding study of van Dijk/Mayhew/Killias: Experien-

ces of Crime across the World. Key Findings of the 1989 International Crime Survey;

Deventer, Boston 1990; in Germany surveys about victimization and fear of crime have

been carried out in recent years; please see the respective studies published in Kaiser, G.;

Jehle, J.-M. (ed.): Kriminologische Opferforschung. Neue Perspektiven und Erkenntnisse.

vol. 102 of the Neue Kriminologische Schriftenreihe; Heidelberg; Teilband 1 1994; Teil-

band II 1995.

13

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

But these observations are also valid when one tries to compare the data

of the criminal statistics of different countries. Therefore international

comparisons are very complicated enterprises which need expert knowledge

of the national peculiarities and international difficulties (s. below III).

II. Reorganizing Statistics in the Field of Criminal Justice

It is already stated above (I) that the official criminal statistics need to

be improved. In the following it will be discussed in which direction the

official criminal statistics should be developed further with the emphasis

lying on the personal statistics of criminal justice. A model (see page 28

below) about the statistical recording in the course of public prosecution,

of sentencing and of execution of the sentence gives an idea at what stage

and by which agency data are collected and used for statistics and other

purposes. The model refers to the German situation, but could be found

in other countries in a similar way. The same is true for the weaknesses and

shortcomings of the different statistics.

1. Purpose of the Statistics in the Field of Criminal Justice

The purpose of the whole of the statistical data collections of the police

and the criminal justice system is to record the essential elements of

criminal prosecution, sentencing and execution of sentence in such a way

that a comprehensive picture of the crime control by the state can be

provided. The available statistics do not give this information: they either

offer too many or not enough data.

The aim, to receive a comprehensive picture of the crime control by the

state, remains an ideal concept. It is clear that for theoretical and practical

reasons cuts have to be made and therefore only extracts of the reality can

be represented. However, the essential directions which set the course

should be recorded, and especially the flow of proceedings on different

levels should be registered - from the penal charge to the investigation by

the public prosecution and from the decision of the court to the execution

14

Jorg-Martin Jehle

of sentence and the discharge. Ultimately homogeneous statistics about the

proceedings are needed or at least a comprehensive system of integrated

partial statistics, which are harmonized in their recording procedures, is

required.’

The present statistics in most of the countries are far from this. It is true

that now statistical recording takes place during all stages of the

proceedings (s. model) and altogether represents plenty of figures, however,

in some parts there are important gaps, and the compatibility of the data

is missing.

In the following the crucial points will be listed:

The survey of the criminal police statistics ends with handing over the

proceedings to the public prosecution; any attempt to pursue and identify

the cases on the next higher level is impossible in most of the countries.’

The statistics of the public prosecution and the statistics of the trials

often refer to proceedings, which are not person-related and do not permit

the connection of offence and type of disposal.

The statistics of convictions start at court level, and do mostly not

record the earlier disposals of cases and cases of pre-trial detention, which

do not reach a sentencing; at the same time the actual sanctions, the

conditions and instructions regarding court discharge and probation are not

sufficiently differentiated.

Data referring to the field of the execution of sentence are only partially

recorded: for example by means of the probation service statistics and the

prison statistics. The latter have the great disadvantage to be usually

organized in reference to a fixed date.

4

Homogeneous statistics for police and criminal justice can be found only in a few coun-

tries, such as Canada and Denmark (s. de Silva: An Example from Overseas: Canada’s

Criminal Justice Statistics,

Justice Statistics Program, pp. 155 ff., and Larsen: Danis

pp. 31 ff.). Even compatible statistics, like in England/Wales (s. Barclay. Statistics of

Crime and Criminal Justice. England and Wales, 1994, pp. 35 ff.) and Portugal (s. Lopes:

Criminal Statistics in Portugal, pp. 135 ff.), are an exception.

Only in England/Wales (s. Barclay. Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice. England and

Wales, 1994,

. 35 ff.) and Denmark (s. Larsen: Danish Criminal Justice Statistics,

pp- 31 ff.) the flow of individual cases through the whole course of criminal justice can

be followed; there specific index numbers help to trace the cases.

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

15

In some of the countries there exists a Central Register of criminal

records which represents a further additional data collection and

theoretically could also be used for statistical purposes. This instrument

records mainly sentences and partly the person-related execution of

sentence or the discharge. As the entries are kept for a while at least, the

Central Register can especially be used for studies on reconvictions.

In the field of criminal justice of most countries there exists either an

excess or a lack of data. An excess, as partly the same data are recorded

several times for different statistical purposes; a lack, as the statistics have

gaps and are not quite compatible with each other.

2. Customer-oriented Presentation

The stages and the data to be recorded depend on the needs of the

different users which must be considered. The same is true for access to

and publication of data from criminal statistics.

In realizing the general objectives (see above 1) it is necessary to have

a closer look at the needs of the potential data users.

Research has surely the most comprehensive interest in recording

statistical data. However, the researchers’ needs cannot determine the

object of statistical recording, because even a very good statistical recording

will never fully satisfy the scientific needs; on the contrary there will always

remain an additional need for independent empirical research. Further-

more, it is hardly predictable, what will become a future research object;

rescarch profits most, if the data recorded are comprised and aggregated

as little as possible in order to avoid restricting their message.

The latter is principally also valid for criminal law policy. Everything in

the process of criminal prosecution, sentencing and execution of sentence,

which is subject to legal provisions, should be of interest to criminal law

policy. It is evident that the total amount of possibly interesting data cannot

always be present in the statistics to be published; here also exists a need

16

Jorg-Martin Jehle

to provide access to the raw data, i.e. the data sets on the basis of

individual cases, in order to touch relevant policy questions. In view of the

necessity to obtain up-to-date information there is the special problem that

statistics are usually updated only once a year and that publication is often

considerably delayed.’

The principal interests of the administration agencies of justice are

probably directed towards (questions of) organization and planning of

personnel. Of special interest are here the number of proceedings and

cases and data concerning the structure, personnel situation and costs of

criminal justice’. The judges and public prosecutors, on the contrary, are

more interested in person-related data concerning sentencing.

Finally the interest of the public must be considered. For these purposes

the current statistics of criminal justice offer too many detailed data; at the

same time there is a lack of easily understandable presentations of data in

form of tables, charts, comparisons and brief explanations®.

The interests and needs of the different data users vary, they have to be

taken into consideration and dealt with accordingly. Therefore the statistics

in the field of the criminal justice system must on the one hand be published

in a short version for a general public with additional comments and tables.

On the other hand detailed material must be made available to an expert

public. This can be done either conventionally on paper or - better - on

6 A possible solution could be publication at shorter intervals, for instance quarterly or

half-yearly, as it is done in Denmark (see Larsen: Danish Criminal Justice Statistics,

31 ff.) or the Netherlands (see Kommer: Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in the

Ret

herlands, pp. 117 ff.). Another alternative would be a possibility for certain authorities

or agencies to have quick, short-term access to the data as it is practised in Hungary (see

Erdosi, Brief Review on the Situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics, pp. 89 ff.).

In most of the countries data on costs and personnel are internally collected by the

administration; sometimes they are published, for example in England/Wales (see Barclay.

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice. England and Wales, 1994, pp. 35 ff.).

Attempts to meet this need in a modern way have been made in several countries. In an

exemplary way the Home Office in London presents its Digest "Information on the

Criminal Justice System in England and Wales" (see Barclay: Statistics of Crime and

Criminal Justice.

ngland and Wales, 1994, pp. 35 ff.).

17

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

electronical data media.’ To enable special evaluations for criminal law

policy, administration of justice and science, one must provide access to

electronical data sets on the basis of individual cases.

3. Organization of Data Collection and Recording

Up to now the data collection for the different statistical purposes has

not been coordinated and controlled enough and represented too little of

the interests of the recording bodies. Therefore these data are not of

sufficient reliability.

All statistics are only as good as they are reliable in their recording of

survey criteria. This is generally valid; so error rates can be stated in all

areas of state affairs. Especially the data in the field of criminal justice are

not always reliable, as criminological research has often shown.

The sources of errors and error rates are different; only a few examples

can be mentioned here, which criminological research in Germany - either

based on a files analysis or by comparison of data from the Federal Central

Register of Criminal Records with other statistics - has revealed."

- A very general source of errors is the lacking accuracy of the officials

when filling in the registration card, which might be due to their lacking

motivation and lacking control. This problem will not change if the

recording is done electronically.

The criteria to be recorded are not easily ascertained and are therefore

not or not accurately filled in, as for example information about prior

convictions, victims, additional sentencing directives.

In the Netherlands for example besides the "statistical yearbook" special statistics can be

drawn up for scientific or political purposes. Additionally, "production statistics" and the

data from the police statistics are available on flo

mer. Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in the

y disks for certain institutions (s. Kom-

etherlands, pp. 117 ff.). In Sweden, data

are already available on disk and in computer tables, while the use of so-called "public use

files" with de-identified, reduced data is discussed (s. Israclsson: The Swedish System of

Criminal Statistics. The Scope of the Statistics, pp. 141 ff.)

10

See Jehle, J.-M.: Plidoyer fiir bessere Kriminalstatistiken; Neue Kriminalpolitik 1994,

pp. 22 ff.

18

Jorg-Martin Jehle

The instructions how to fill in the cards and the presentation of the

various registration cards are too different and partly too complicated,

or they allow different ways of handling (example: "most serious’ offence

when offences have equally serious abstract ranges of punishment).

These deficiencies can be largely overcome if the unconnected data

recording is replaced by a coordinated, if possible homogeneous form, if

recording instructions are as easy as possible, if formal data can be easily

recorded and if the recording authorities themselves are interested in the

recording."

The collecting and recording of data must be reorganized; to avoid

multiple recording and to increase the reliability, a homogeneous data

concept should be established for all stages of the criminal justice process

where data have to be recorded.

This concept would establish compatibility of data of the different

phases in the proceedings and at the same time facilitate data collection

and recording. This requires that in the near future the recording bodies

will exchange the conventional registration on paper for a computer system

which enables a computerized data processing from the very beginning of

the data inpu

t'IZ

The ideal concept would consist of a homogeneous data matrix, in which

from stage to stage the new information is added and from which all the

respective data to be recorded can be retrieved.

11 In Portugal, for example, "training sessions" are held to motivate those responsible for the

data collection and to emphasize the necessity of reliable data (see Lopes: Criminal

Statistics in Portugal, pp. 135 ff.).

12

In most of the countries electronic data

&

a

rocessing (EDP) is available for the central

office of statistics which aggregates the

ta and produces the statistics. But in some

countries efforts have been already made to use EDP during the whole process of

bringing about the statistics, starting with the data input and ending with the publication

(for the Netherlands s. Kommer: Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in the Netherlands,

p. 117 ff., for England/Wales s. Barclay. Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice. Eng-

land and Wales, 1994, pp. 35 ff.; for Hungary s. Erddsi: Brief Review on the Situation of

the Hungarian Crime Statistics, pp. 89 ff.; for Sweden s. Israelsson: The Swedish System

of Criminal Statistics. The Scope of the Statistics, pp. 141 ff.).

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

19

This would very much simplify the transmission of data for statistics and

criminal records purposes.

From the user’s point of view it is especially important that the data sets

on the basis of individual cases will be maintained in a pool for some time,

so that, independent of the limitations resulting from categorization and

aggregation in the respective statistics, special evaluations with whatever

data connections will be possible.

4. Levels of Recording, Partial Statistics, Categorization

Even with a homogeneous data concept it remains necessary to produce

different, though integrated partial statistics, referring to the respective

stages of the proceedings. Person-related process statistics, which have been

demanded by criminologists for a long time already, can only partially be

realized. Reasons for this are the change of the subject in the course of the

proceedings and the participation of various recording bodies that need

different information.

Assuming that one survey unit represents the proceedings against one

special person, it is not guaranteed, that the cases to be recorded are

identical at each stage of the proceedings. The legal appraisal, detachment

and (partial) discharge of special offences can change the earlier suspicion.

And proceedings can be connected with others or detached from others.

The sanctions imposed in earlier proceedings can be taken into

consideration in a later decision. Finally the execution of several sanctions

can be combined.

It is clear that from stage to stage the survey unit and therefore also the

number of cases to be recorded may change. To represent all these

possible changes, detachments and combinations in uniform person-related

or proceedings-related statistics is probably very difficult to realize.

Therefore all the person-related data sets on the basis of individual cases,

which were collected at all stages of the proceedings, should be gathered

in one pool to provide for special process statistical analyses.

20

Jorg-Martin Jehle

Besides that, (integrated and compatible) partial statistics have to be

produced for each of the different stages of criminal proceedings, this being

the police, public prosecutor, courts and the corrections system. They

should basically record the flow of cases and refer to the proceedings

concerning individual persons as survey unit.

This concept comprises the fields, which today are already largely

covered by the current statistics of police and criminal justice. However, in

most of the countries the current statistics are not harmonized and lack

compatibility (see above II. 1.).

Especially here exist obstacles to harmonizing data recorded by the

police on the one hand and by criminal justice agencies on the other hand.

But these obstacles can be overcome.

As far as uniform statistics or compatible partial statistics for police and

criminal justice” do not exist, at least efforts should be made in order to

establish common categories for both fields'.

That means, the characteristics of the persons, the offences and judicial

decisions should be recorded in the same way. Basically, only formal, easily

recordable characteristics shall be registered. In every phase of the

proceedings (and therefore for all partial statistics) the formal personal

criteria, the offences committed and the decision, which closed the

respective stages of the proceedings, are to be recorded.

The committed offences should be completely recorded and not be

restricted to the most severe offence as it has mostly been practised up to

now". This results in a systematic underestimation of petty offences (for

13 This is the case e.g. in Canada, Denmark and England/Wales (see fn. 4).

14 In Portugal (see Lopes: Criminal Statistics in Portugal, pp. 135 ff.) criminological catego-

ries have been established which can be transformed into penal law terms and vice versa;

in Germany (see Blath: Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany, pp. 47 ff.)

only harmonizing the different partial statistics in the field of criminal justice - without

police - is aimed at in the near future.

15

For the situation in Germany see Blath: Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germa-

ny, pp. 47 ff.

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

21

example driving without a licence). This suggestion makes it easier for the

officials who do the recording, because they will no longer have to choose

between different offences; however, for the organization of the statistics

and the presentation of the tables or charts new concepts have to be

developed.

5. Complementary research

The statistics of the criminal justice system can only provide a rough

framework. For detailed analysis regarding characteristics of victims and

offenders, future convictions and new convictions, sentencing by the courts,

and the intricate modalities of the criminal prosecution and the execution

of sentence further sources of information, especially from scientific studies,

are required.

Already for reasons of work load and reliability of the data the

recording for statistical purposes cannot be based on thorough and time-

consuming activities of gathering information; moreover the data which are

at the official’s disposal are limited.

Therefore, for detailed information additional sources of information

have to be used: Regarding reconvictions and prior convictions, for example

criminal records, files analyses, regarding sentencing and the partly

complicated execution modalities and specific victim- and offender-criteria

regarding primary surveys. In these fields criminological research has to

become active, though it still depends on the access to the official

documents.

The most important alternative of measuring criminality has become the

so-called victim or crime surveys. In the United States of America they

have been established for more than 20 years but only a few other countries

22

Jorg-Martin Jehle

carry out crime surveys on a regular basis.'” Despite some specific

methodological problems crime surveys can fill some of the gaps of the

official statistics and thus lead to a more adequate evaluation of the

statistical figures. They have proved an indispensible, though expensive

instrument which complements the official crime and criminal justice

statistics. Furthermore they can be used for international comparisons more

easily than official statistics because international standardization especially

regarding the offence definitions can be reached.”

III. International Comparisons

Attempts to compare data of national criminal justice statistics are very

complicated enterprises. Therefore only few international comparisons have

been carried out, mainly by international organisations, i.e. Interpol, the

United Nations and the Council of Europe."®

Whereas Interpol collects information restricted on crime recorded by

the police, the United Nations Crime Surveys and the activities of the

Council of Europe comprehend crime and criminal justice data. The latest

UN Crime Survey is the fourth survey of crime trends and operation of

criminal justice system, which deals with the years 1986 to 1990." The

16

E.g. in Canada (s. de Silva: An Example from Overseas: Canada’s Justice Statistics

Program, pp. 155 ff.) crime surveys are carried out every 5 years, in the Netherlands

(s. Kommer. Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in the Netherlands, pp. 117 ff.) and

England/Wales (s. Barclay. Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice. England and Wales,

1994, pp. 35 ff.) even every 2 years. In the framework of an international project in some

other

uropean and Non-European countries crime surveys were carried out (van

Dijk/Mayhew/Killias, fn. 3). In Germany after the unification different crime surveys and

victimization studies took place (s. Kaiser/Jehle, fn. 3).

17

See van Dijk/Mayhew/Killias, fn. 3, especially The International Victimization Survey

Questionnaire, pp. 153 ff.

18

See Lewis: International Studies and Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice, pp. 167 ff.

19

A first description of the design and the methodological difficulties is given by Joutsen,

M.: The fourth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and O

erations of Criminal

Justice System (1986 - 1990); in: European Journal on Criminal Po|

R

cy and Research; 2-4;

. 117 {f.; see also the comments by Roger Hood: Crime Trends and Criminal Justice

in Europe, and by J6rg-Martin Jehle: Comparing Data of National Criminal Justice Statis-

tics, papers held on the Fourth European Criminological Colloquium in Romain Motier

Lausanne; 14-16 September 1994.

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

23

Council of Europe has concentrated in former years on the prison statis-

tics®; recently it has started an ambitious project, called the European

Criminal Justice Sourcebook?.

If one analyzes such ambitious internationally comparing projects like

the UN Survey or the European Sourcebook, one has to differentiate

between two different kinds of problems:

(M

Which problems do exist on a national level?

@)

Which problems come up with an international comparison?

1. Problems on the National Level

It is clear that the state of the national statistics also impedes the

international comparison, for in all cases the data collected have to be

derived from given national sources.

The first problems are the deficiencies concerning completeness and

reliability of the statistical data. One factor is the bureaucratic inertia,

which Matti Joutsen has also discoverd in the UN survey”. The motivation

to record the data is not very high among the officials of the police and

criminal justice, if their office has no own interest in the data or if the

recording is not controlled. On the other hand also too much can be

recorded, for instance when the statistics are connected with a proof of

performance of the recording persons (this is the case for the German

police).

The second important problem, that also concerns the international

comparability, is the lacking compatibility of the data on the different stages

from the police treatment of the cases to the judicial proceedings. Different

persons from different authorities record data for different statistics at

20 See the analysis of these data by Tournier, P.: The Custodial Crisis in Europe: inflated

Prison Populations and Possible Alternatives; in: European Journal on Criminal Policy

and Research; 2-4; 1994, pp. 89 ff.

21 The project is described by the chairman of an experts group which has prepared a draft

model, Martin Killias: The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project, pp. 203 ff.

22 S. Joutsen (fn. 19) pp. 120 ff.

24

Jorg-Martin Jehle

different times and different stages of the proceedings (s. above II. 1.). The

only solution here is to urge on the national level that the collection and

categorization of the data for the different statistics will be harmonized. In

the long term a homogeneous (electronic) data entry form, in which the

new data are filled in from stage to stage, should be aimed at. This would

also establish the basis for process statistics, which has been demanded by

criminologists for a long time already. International surveys which at the

same time show the gaps and faults of the respective national data may on

the other hand make an impact on the national level and give impulses for

improvements there.

2. Specific Problems with an International Comparison

Differences between the countries occur on all levels: of legal

definitions, of the course of criminal prosecutions, and of the institutions

involved, of the penal sanctions, and of the way all these data are

statistically collected™. To give an example on the level of police recording:

Even if the offence definitions would appear to be more or less comparable

between the countries, comparisons can be seriously impaired by deviating

statistical rules applicated in the different countries. Questions arise, such

as: At what point of time will an offence be registered? What is the unit

used in the statistics: the criminal act, the object of the criminal act, the

victim, etc.? What happens in case an act violates different sections of law?

How are serial offences counted?

It is important not to attempt a comparison of the whole of the

criminality in the different countries, which is always widely different in its

definition, but to refer to some quite differentiated selected offences, as it

is done for the European Sourcebook and the UN Survey. As favourable

this might be, it also has disadvantages, because the selected offences

cannot always be differentiated on all levels of the criminal justice system.

Though, the basic problems of comparability still exist even for the

selected offences. To give an example which also Matti Joutsen mentioned:

23 S. Joutsen (fn. 19); Kommer: International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice

Statistics, pp. 177 ff.; Gratia: International Prospects of Criminality, pp. 193 ff.

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

25

assault. There is no consistent legal concept even for this offence. While

assault is understood in common law countries as physical attack, the

element of physical injury is decisive in other countries e.g. in Germany.

(By the way, this difference is not sufficiently considered in the victim

surveys; even in German studies "physical attack" is asked for although

there exists no analogous actus reus.)

Further differences in the treatment of this offence can be seen in

prosecution and sentencing. Partly assault is prosecuted only upon the

formal complaint of the victim and in Germany the victim can be referred

to private prosecution. This process of selection naturally has consequences

for the sentencing, too.

At the same time, this example might illustrate what enormous

differences do exist between the countries especially on the level of criminal

prosecution. This is particularly true for the possibility of the public

prosecutor to dismiss cases or to impose sanctions by himself.

All these difficulties may give the impression: The differences of the

criminal justice systems and the statistical recordings are so big that one

can not know for sure if either the differences or the similarities in the

statistical figures can be interpreted as real ones. Though, one should not

give up in view of the consequences of the hardly controllable differences.

Instead of this, these differences have to be thoroughly worked out and

described in the publication of the statistical figures - as it is attempted in

the European Sourcebook Project.

3. A Special Problem: the Changes in East Europe

The last point is concerned with the consequences of the radical

political changes in East Europe®. Even when the states still exist in their

former geographical shape, hardly solvable statistical problems occur,

especially where longitudinal comparisons are concerned”. This is valid

for comparisons with the time before 1989/90, because at this time the

24 Matti Joutsen treated this problem in his paper, held on the Fourth European Criminolo-

gical Colloquium in Romain Motier/Lausanne, 14-16 September 1994.

25 S. Jasinski, Criminal Statistics in Poland, pp- 127 ff.; Erd6si, Brief review on the situation

of the Hungarian Crime Statistics, pp. 89 ff.

26

Jérg-Martin Jehle

structure of criminal opportunities as well as the criminal prosecution and

the collection of statistical data were fundamentally different. But also the

first years of the nineties were extra-ordinary; it is hard to differentiate how

much of the measured enormous increase of criminality is real and how

much of it is the result of the fact that the police and criminal justice had

to be built up again and therefore could only partially deal with the

criminality and record it.

Germany is especially affected by these difficulties: Because of the

totally different situation in the former GDR there cannot be any

comparisons of the united Germany with the situation before 1990%. And

even if the comparison is restricted to West Germany before and after the

unification, it is difficult to be done, as the fall of the wall and the opening

of the borders to East Europe have resulted in a so far unknown influx of

people of whom some might come into conflict with the law. This can be

best illustrated by the example of West Berlin: After the fall of the wall, the

rate of reported cases of shoplifting increased 300 %, and the rate of

pretrial detentions of young offenders rose 300 % as well.

This specific development in East Europe and in Germany should be

gradually consolidated in the middle or at the end of the nineties.

4. Final Remark

The efforts for cross-sectional comparisons especially between the

different European countries are important and deserving. However, no

matter how carefully the differences between the criminal justice systems

and their statistical recordings are considered, a totally satisfying

27

or "a

comparability cannot be achieved, as far as a "standardization

uniform way of data collection"” on national and international level will

not be established. And this seems as desirable as impossible, at least in the

near future.

26 An overview of the consequences of the German unification gives Kaiser/Jehle, fn. 3.

27 S. Kommer. International Compatison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics; pp. 182 ff.

28 S. Spinellis/Kranidioti: Greek Crime Statistics; pp. 67 ff., 88.

27

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics - Needs and Prospects

Therefore

longitudinal

comparisons

are

here

more

fruitfu

12

Independently from the individual starting levels in the different countries

one can find out, for example, in which countries the criminality recorded

by the police increases or decreases, how far strategies of decriminalization

have consequences and how far the measure of punitiveness is increased or

weakened. Then one can observe and internationally compare parallel or

contrary trends and connect them with accompanying circumstances.

However, cross-sectional comparisons, like they are presented by the UN

Survey and the Modell European Sourcebook of Criminal Justice, have to

create the preconditions for such longitudinal comparisons.

29 S. Kommer. International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics,

177 ff.; Gratia: International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality, pp. 193 ff.; Killias:

The

European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project, pp. 203 ff.

Jorg-Martin Jehle

Modell of the German statistical data recording

in the process of criminal prosecution, sentencing

and execution of sentence (simplified)

Stage of proceeding

Recording body

Data collection/statistics

Preliminary Investigation

Suspicion of a criminal

offense

Police

Transmission to public

criminal police statistics

prosecution

(Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik)

Pending proceedings

Public prosecution

statistics of the criminal

proceedings (in planning)

decisions

statistics of the public

Public prosecution

(charge, suspension,

prosecution (Geschiftsstatistik

etc.

der Staatsanwaltschaft)

Interlocutory

Court

statistics of the triais

proceedin

(Geschiftsstatistik der

(Zwischenverfahren)

Gerichte)

Main proceedings

Court

Conviction

Public prosecution

statistics of convictions

(Strafverfolgungsstatistik)

Sentencing

Public prosecution

Federal Central Register

(for criminal records)

Exccution of sentence

probation

Public prosecution

Federal Central Register

Court

probation service statistics

(Bewihrungshilfestatistik)

prison sentence

Public prosccution

Federal Central Register

Prison administration

prison statistics

(Strafvollzugsstatistik)

remission of penalty

Public prosccution

Federal Central Register

and discharge

Reconvictions

Public prosecution

Federal Central Register

(analysis of recidivism -

in planning)

II. Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

in Different Countries

"’

e

o

o

it

"

i

A

=

.

0

5

S

8

!

b

K

A

3

3

vy

)

.

7

e

o

)

b

5

s

i

b

g{

Y

&

v

i

’

.

SH

a5

&

;{k

i

o

gi.x

e

d

5

"

o

e

L

o

i

y

o

Nt

e

v

i

i

4

ot

ey

£

=

s

.

.

i

AR

o

i

i

'w,!m

ar

il

A

e

]

{0

Fally

"} -

o

o

¢

o

.

o

i

o

>

*

4

ok

9

-

e

&

¥

o1

e

oy

Q

o

i

. -

e

g

o

{0

L

i

4

3

i

b

2%

i

4

o

s

b

e

-

B

L

i

9

e

"

%

?'

4

i

.

I

A

e

s

i

i

.

By

b

By

Ir

i

s

o

S8

!

Ao

st

o

%

)?'c

e

e

=

ol

o

b

i

a7

b

1

i)

v

e

i

E

.

e

b

o

W

A

4

%

EYe

g

b

e

8

ot

.

s

i

.

i

i

.

#,

&

i

i3

i

;%‘

5

i

i

=

i

i

W

P

Wi

%

ot

e

o

i

IS

&

e

SR

{52

g

;h

.

b

3

5

iy

b

&

i

:w

gt

£

"

et

G

e

i

i

i

i

s

Ve

i

.

£

)

i

i

e

i

"

P

it

3;;

%

:;

g

e

&

0

(L

ikt

i

pis

7

i

5

e

e

k3

i

a

s

el

[

& ol

)

o

¢

;

e

%

2

i

i

'y

e

o

‘\‘i‘“;g%

e

5

.

o

Ex

#

.

i

ek

B

o

1

it

e

i

;

o

Gt

R

i

el

0

"

4

xé

s

§

fobe

i

#i

!

i

e

i

R

3

.

i

i

L

y

i

i

el

k)

é:%

.

00

o

N

e

!

Ean

a4

W

2

&

o

i

‘,

S

e

!

b

&

.

o

e

2

et

A

S

T

i

o

o

iy

Aot

2

.

I

B

i

i

piy

o

g

(0

St

e

%

i

0

o

i

o

.

&

¥

¥

o

v

.

s

&

E:

‘1

=

i

3

4%‘;

it

b

i

L

e

:

o

il

b

g

il

W

B

.

il

o

i

)

e

i3

:

i

el

L

i

e

45

i

B

7

b

Es

i

s

o

o

o

g

i

B

.

i

"

Ha

Wi

i

#)ng ot

&

I

g

3

{&

%

g

i

th

oW

I

g

i

s

2

i

s

i

iy

in

o

i

i

A G v

iy

i

L4

iy

k¢

i

i

i

5

i

o

9

e

4

it

b

o

i

%

W 2

P

Danish Criminal Justice Statistics

Paul Henning Larsen

1. Denmark has been publishing annual criminal statistics since 1832. Their

main publication is called Kriminalstatistik, which is published annually.

The volume is about 120 pages and comprises mainly tables with little

textual or graphical comment. It is however very clear and well-produced,

with an English translation of main table headings and clauses at the back.

In addition to Kriminalstatistik, they also publish an annual brief on clear-

up rates, quarterly briefings on recorded crime (publishing data 20 days

after the end of the quarter to which they refer) and assorted press releases

and special studies.

2. The statistical section dealing with criminal justice statistics comprises

two academic staff and two clerical staff. Clearly, even given that most of

their data comes to them through AD], it is a very small section. There are

also around ten criminologists at the University who carry out various

pieces of research using the section’s data.

3. Due to the nature of the Danish statistical system being able to link

individuals to different registers via their unique Central Population Regis-

ter (CPR) number, it would be possible to carry out analyses based on the

education of criminals, their nationality, income, residence and so forth.

However, their limited staff mean that they have been unable to make the

most of this source. The CPR number also means that they can link records

to produce criminal histories, like the Offenders Index.

4. The usual statistics that they provide are summarised in the diagram

below:

32

Paul Henning Larsen

The Danish Criminal Justice statistical system

Crime committed

Crime recorded

People charged

People sentenced

(no. of crimes)

(no. of persons)

People given

custodial sentences

Clear-up rates,

Place of

type of crime, per

residence, Penal

Main and lesser

Type of prison,

100,000 of

Code, Traffic Art,

charges, guilt,

length of

population

other Special

_—

disposal

= | sentence,

over 15 etc

Laws, offence,

on remand

age and sex

Reported but NFA

Other sanctions

Not guilty

Not reported and

not known

Data on reported crime

published 20 days after

end of quater (by ADI)

The numbers of crimes record by the police and the proportion that are

cleared up for the various categories of crimes and also as a rate of crimes

committed per hundred thousand population (aged over 15). Kriminal-

statistik gives these for the years 1933 to 1991. Examples of subsequent

information to be found there are given below.

Danish Criminal Justice Statistics

33

5. Recorded crime has been decreasing in Denmark since 1989 but still

stands at over half a million recorded crimes per annum (all categories of

offence). Over half of all recorded crime comprises burglaries and thefts.

Violent and sexual offences represent only 2% per cent of all reported

crime. Over 96 per cent are property crimes.

6. The clear-up rate has fallen from over 40 per cent in the 1950’s to

around 20 per cent throughout the 1980s. This coincides with a sharp rise

in the number of recorded crimes per 100,000 of the population over age

15 - which has risen from under 4,000 to over 12,000 over these four dec-

ades. The clear-up rates for burglary and theft are around 11 per cent and

23 per cent respectively. The clear-up rate for robberies is over 40 per cent.

Of reported homicides and attempted homicides, 83 per cent were cleared

up in 1991.

7. The total number of people convicted for crimes in Denmark in 1991

was 141,020 (18,792 of whom were women). This represents a rate of 3,295

persons per 100,000 of the population aged over 15. Just under a half of the

total were motoring offences of some sort (- for women, this proportion is

nearer a third). There were 62 cases of homicide or attempted homicide,

and in total about 5,600 offenders convicted of acts of violence. In addition

there were over 700 convictions for sexual offences. The peak age of offen-

ding in Denmark in 1991 (as a proportion of the population) was 20 for

males and 24 for females. However, for property crimes only, the peak for

males is 18-20, and for violence against the person offences committed by

males it is 18-22 years.

8. Of the 55,276 offenders under the Penal Code, which exclude motoring

offences and those offences relating to ’special laws’, 16,637 received

custodial sentences (7,984 of which were unsuspended and 8,653 sus-

pended). 18,870 offenders received fines, 16,365 were recorded as ’no

charges’, and 1,661 had the charge withdrawn. The ’charge withdrawn’

figure has fallen from 2,600 in 1981. The number of convictions resulting

in fines has increased in almost every year over the same period (1981-91).

Motoring offences resulted in 5,607 custodial sentences in 1991, the vast

34

Paul Henning Larsen

majority of which were unsuspended. The ’special laws’ group contributed

a further 1,072 custodial sentences. The average sentence length in

Denmark appears to have fallen over the past decade, particularly for the

more serious offences (falling from 7.9 months to 6.2 months for cases

resulting in sentences of ‘non-lenient’ custody).

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice

in England and Wales

Gordon Barclay

Responsible Authority

Statistics of crime and criminal justice in England and Wales are the re-

sponsibility of a single authority, the Research and Statistics Department

(RSD) of the British Home Office [Contact, Gordon C. Barclay, Dissemina-

tion and Intemational section, 18th Floor, Lunar House, Wellesley Road,

Croydon, Swrrey, UK: 0181-760-2326].

The RSD sets central standards for the criminal justice agencies re-

garding counting rules, accuracy, timeliness, format, storeage and

transmission of data and collates the data received from these agencies into

extensive data bases. It also conducts household, victim and other surveys.

The RSD not only serves the British Government and Parliament with

policy and statistical advice but is the main agency for analysis and

publication of crime and criminal justice statistics.

Although Scotland and Northern Ireland are integral parts of the United

Kingdom, they are really separate states as far as criminal justice is con-

cerned, with their own laws and administrative structures for law and order.

Scotland, in particular, has a very different system of law. The statistics of

these two parts of the UK are very different from those of England and

Wales and are not covered in this chapter.

Basis for Data Collection in England and Wales

Although the Police Act 1964 gives the Home Office the authority to

demand statistics in any detail of police authorities, this power is not used.

36

Gordon Barclay

Rather a series of consultation processes exists with all agencies regarding

data collection which aim to balance the cost of collection against both

local and national needs for data, taking into account likely changes in both

technology and administrative structures. Such procedures have existed for

nearly two centuries. The most important present developments are:

On the demandside, the pressure from government for regular and early

monitoring of their justice policies and for improved value for money. And,

from all users the pressure for statistics to be made available in user-

friendly fashion, including more and more on electronic media.

On the supply side, the developments in information technology which

enable large amounts of data to be collected relatively cheaply as a by-

product of administrative systems, the potential of modern databases to

produce speedy and detailed analyses and to link different data collections.

As in most countries, statistics are always in a process of development.

In the middle of the 1990s they still maintain a good deal of the character

of the original 19th century systems. The migration to make full use of

present IT will certainly take until the end of the century.

The Criminal Justice System (CJS)

The CJS in England and Wales differs from nearly all European coun-

tries in that it developed from Anglo-Saxon concepts of Common law.

More details are given in Barclay (1993). Although similar agencies exist

as in other countries, their powers and procedures vary.

Broadly, police record about a quarter of all crime that occurs, mainly

because it is not reported to them. They clear up about a quarter of the

crime they do record and caution about 40% of offenders known to them

and pass the rest to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Both the police and some other agencies have the power to give fixed

penalties for (mainly traffic) offences and the number of such penalties is

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice in England and Wales

37

about four times the number of court cases. The CPS pass most cases to

the lower (magistrates’) courts, where the vast majority of court cases are

dealt with. Other authorities, e.g. licencing authorities also pass cases to the

lower courts when their own procedures have failed. A proportion of the

more serious cases are passed to the higher (Crown) court.

Penalties awarded by the courts range from discharge, through fines,

community penalties, up to life imprisonment. Two agencies are concerned

with the offender after sentence: the Probation Service supervise communi-

ty penalties, including supervised release. The Prison Service supervises

those in custody.

Each of the agencies: Police, CPS, Magistrates’ Courts, Crown Courts,

Probation Service and Prison Service pass Statistics to the Research and

Statistics Department. However, for organisational and historical reasons,

these statistics often have slightly different characteristics: e.g. detail of

offences, timeliness, definition of units. Cases are not linked statistically

across agencies. The sections below give a general discussion of the availa-

ble statistics and regular publications.

There is a long-term strategy to coordinate the computer systems of all

these agencies (CCCIJS), which is likely to come about by the end of the

century and the compatibility of statistics which will then be produced will

be very much greater. This CCCJS work is also the responsibility of the

Research and Statistics Department [contact Martin Narey, 0171-273-3527].

Statistics of Crime

This topic is covered in more detail in Lewis (1992).

Most crime does not get reported to the police so that the starting point

must be victim surveys to estimate the total extent of crime. The British

Crime Survey is now conducted every two years. In it questions are asked

of around 10,000 households, including their experience of crime. A large

38

Gordon Barclay

number of publications are associated with the surveys and the latest results

are given in Mayhew, Aye Maung and Mirrlees-Black (1993).

The survey estimated a total of 15 million crimes in 1991. The vast

majority of offences were against property. Motor vehicles (cars, vans and

motorcycles) were a very common target: over a third of all BCS incidents

involved theft of, theft from or damage to vehicles. In contrast, burglaries

formed a smaller proportion of survey crimes, around 9%. Wounding and

robbery accounted for only 5% of BCS crime although less serious assaults

made up another 12%.

Over the ten years from 1981 to 1991 the proportion of BCS offences

reported to the police has increased. For the comparable sub-set, 36% of

offences were reported in 1981 but 50% in 1991.

There have also been changes in the proportion of reported crime police

record. The overall result has been a decrease in the ratio of BCS crime to

the number of offences recorded by the police. In 1981 it was estimated

that, for the comparable subset- there were 4.5 BCS incidents for every one

recorded by the police. This had dropped to 3.4 by 1992.

The better known set of crime statistics are those recorded by the

police. The counting rules for this series are set by RSD. Statistics are

published on a half-yearly basis, in considerable detail: e.g. by 70 offence

types, for each police forces area, and by whether the incident was cleared

up by the police and how it was cleared up, e.g. by a charge, caution, taken

into consideration or otherwise.

In 1993 the total number of offences recorded by the police was some

5.5 million, the same as in 1992. However, for over 30 years this series has

increased by an average of about 5%: in some years, typically those of

economic recession, the increase is greater, in a few years, typically those

of economic recovery, the increase is less, or there has even been a decrea-

s€

The recent BCS results confirm that much of the increase in police

recorded offences during the last decade was due to recording changes and

not to a real increase in crime. However, this has not diminished the politi-

39

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice in England and Wales

cal interest in recorded crime figures, at both national and local levels.

They are regarded as an indicator of malaise in society, and played up by

the media. Certain commentators regard the statistics themselves as causing

a fear of crime and the Home Office has been accused of statistical ter-

rorism by continuing to publish them.

Whatever the media interest, it is not possible to judge what is hap-

pening to crime without considering both victim survey results and police

recorded crime. Since the usual statistic used to compare countries is the

police figure, this must throw doubts of the sense of trying to do so. Even

when it is known that police definitions in two countries are compatible, the

changes in recording over a particular period may well have been different.

However, some crimes are known to be well recorded: e.g. serious

vehicle theft and house burglaries and comparisons across countries of

trends in such offences would be more valid.

This dual approach will continue to be developed. If funding could be

obtained an annual victim survey, as in the USA, would be a possibility.

There is also the need to conduct surveys of business premises, hospitals,

schools, which are not included in the BCS.

On the police side there is a continuing need to bring the counting rules

up to date, to ensure that new offences are included and that the rules for

offences such as cheque-book fraud reflect what is happening in society.

However, there is a tension here between the need for more accurate

measurement, the growing cost of such measurement and the political

embarrassment in explaining in public that a once and for all step up in the

series is an artefact of the recording system.

Other Police Statistics

The most important series is the number of cautions which are issued

by the police. This is a procedure whereby the police can stop a case

before it goes to the prosecutor if the suspect admits his guilt. He is cau-

40

Gordon Barclay

tioned and set free, with no further action taken on that offence, although

for a future offence his previous caution will be taken into account.

Individual records of each caution are sent by the police to RSD who

maintain a database of cautions and publish detailed analyses.

A considerable amount of data is also collected on police activity on

stops and search, prevention of terrorism, road checks, intimate searches,

motoring crime, fixed penalties awarded, checks for jury service, drug

addicts and offenders and other police activities. This information is pub-

lished in the series of Home Office Statistical Bulletins.

Statistics of Prosecutions

Before 1986 most prosecutions were brought by the police and few

statistics were available. The CPS was set up in 1986, but the introduction

of a full case-handling computer system for the CPS will not take place

until around 1996. At present few statistics are published the main ones

being in the annual CPS report. However, the amount of detail available is

very limited, being based on the need to measure and forecast workload,

rather than to pass management information to other agencies of the CJS

or to measure a social phenomenon for wider interest.

Statistics for the Magistrates’ Courts

These statistics have a long history, with results of individual cases

having been sent to the Home Office since the start of the 19th century.

From the middle of the 19th century, these statistics have, most illogically,

been collected by the police. At present most results still come from the

police on paper but a move to automatic data interchange direct from

courts computers is in progress and electronic data interchange is expected

by 2001.

The Home Office maintains a data base of information on all disposals

from magistrates’ courts, with information on offence type, disposal (in-

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice in England and Wales

41

cluding amount of fine, length of order/sentence), age, sex, name, court,

remand. This enables a very large amount of detailed analysis, for policy

and public use.

Statistics for the Crown Courts

The history of these statistics is similar to that for the lower courts, al-

though the move to automatic data collection is scheduled for 1995. The

type of information collected is the same as in the lower courts and a

similar database is maintained.

Although courts data is, in theory, 100% complete, such a large scale

data processing task does not always get carried out correctly, and some

deficiencies creep in. However, the main missing element is that the infor-

mation simple records the situation at the end of the case, ie when it leaves

that particular court. There is no detail on what has taken place during the

court hearing: for example, a person charged with wounding who was

prepared to plead guilty to common assault (a lesser offence) would simply

have his disposal recorded for the lesser offence and the original charge

would be lost statistically. Also, if a person appealed against his sentence

and thus had his sentence quashed, this would also not be recorded. This

inability to ’follow through’ the offender from charge to final disposal is

probably the most important deficiency in British criminal statistics.

The most important analyses from courts results are:

counts of the total number of known offenders (defined as those cau-

tioned or found guilty at court) by age, sex, offence, court, police force

area, etc.

Use made of particular disposals, both in absolute numbers and in

relation to other disposals. This is where ministers wish to monitor the

effect of a new law.

42

Gordon Barclay

Use made of particular disposals at a court in a particular town, to see

whether sentencing is being carried out uniformaly across the country.

There are few official rules on sentencing, other than maximum sen-

tences although guidelines are from time to time set by senior members

of the judiciary.

Analyses showing the workload of courts, delays, manpower, etc.

These court results are published annually in Criminal Statistics, with

workload figures in Judicial Statistics.

Court Statistics present difficulties in international comparisons. The

disposals available to courts differ from country to country, so comparisons

of proportions given imprisonment will reflect as much differences in the

law as in practice. The existance of penalties outside the courts system will

influence the sense of any comparisons as will the resouces which are

available to the CJS: e.g. judges will be unlikely to make a specific commu-

nity order if the facilities do not exist locally for that order to be carried

out. Like all other comparisons, differences should not be taken at their

face value but used as the starting point for further investigations.

Statistics of the Probation System

The Probation Service is organised locally: it has a role in preparing

reports before sentence is given in courts as well as supervising the various

community penalties which can be given and in supervising prisoners after

their release up to the time their sentence expires. Statistics are collected

on each case, by automatic data interchange with local Probation Services.

The main analyses are in connection with the workload on the services.

Statistics are published annually in Probation Statistics.

Because the roles of the Probation Service are so very different from the

roles of similar agencies in other countries, it is doubtful if valid compari-

sons could be made across countries. More should be made of the differing

roles of the service in different countries and their different funding: for

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice in England and Wales

43

example, the importance a government gives to treating offenders in the

community. Whether the local community feels it has a role in rehabilita-

tion or whether this is left to the State.

Statistics on the Prison Service

The Prison Service is organised centrally and its local and central ad-

ministrative computer systems are all linked via electronic network. Thus,

statistics are passed to RSD from the local prisons giving information on

an individual basis on offence, age, sex, name, length of sentence, date of

release, ethnic characteristics etc. Analyses are made of the numbers

admitted to prison, by offence, age, sex, etc, and of the numbers in prison.

These analyse are particularly useful, both to ministers who wish to

know the effect of their policies on the prison population and on those

running the service, in order plan most efficiently their resources. The last

20 years has been characterised by many changes of policy with regard to

the use of prison for offenders, in a general reaction to the increase in

recorded crime and a generally growing prison population. One of the main

uses of statistics is in predicting the demand for prison places both short

and long term. In general British sentencers have not taken into account

the availability of prison places when sentencing, so that short term in-

creases in incarceration rates have to be met by using marginal prison

population (e.g. police cells, ships, army camps) until there is time to build

a new prison.

The statistics are published in the annual Prison Statistics. On the face

of it, comparison of the numbers of people in prison is something which

should be quite valid across different countries. However, account should

be taken of the policy on remanding in prison before trial or before sen-

tence and of the basic level of crime in the country. Both can affect the

prison numbers: e.g. one would expect a country where the crime rate was

double another’s to have a higher prison population, even if the justice

system were identical.

44

Gordon Barclay

Ad Hoc Statistical Collections

A large proportion of the statistics collected are on an ad hoc basis, to

supplement the regular figures noted above. For example, a National

Prisons Survey has looked in much more detail at the characteristics of

offenders in prison: self-reporting studies have given more information on

the number of offences committed by offenders: surveys of violent crime

look in more detail into the circumstances of crimes: court surveys look

much more quickly at the short-term effects of new laws.

The results of such surveys are published in two RSD series: either

Home Office Research Studies or Home Office Statistical Bulletins.

Linked Statistical Analyses of Offenders

The existence of large databases enables both large and small scale

studies of particular types of offender to be carried out. The Offenders

Index is a database created from the courts results database to give an

alphabetic list of all those who have been convicted over the last 30 years,

with details of their convictions. This enables the following types of studies:

following through cohorts born in particular periods.

Following through those given particular disposals to show how soon,

and how often they are reconvicted.

Following through the criminal careers of particular types of people to

see if they are different from others: e.g. drug addicts, those given a

particular type of treatment during a community or prison sentence.

Following through those given cautions to see if this treatment is cost-

effective.

Comparative studies of different types of disposals.

Results are published in the two RSD series.

Statistics of Crime and Criminal Justice in England and Wales

45

Digests of Statistics

It must be acknowledged that when there is such a large amount of

statistics available, these can be quite indigestible even to the more serious

reader. In the last 3 years an attempt has been to produce a much more

user-friendly summary of the more important points. This Digest of the CJS

is available free and updated every two years. It presents information in a

series of Bull Points and graphs and is confined to under 90 pages long.

Publications

Series - Research Studies:

Home Office Research Studies (HORS), starting with No. 1 in 1969 now

reached No. 132 in 1993.

Research Findings: Short Summaries of Research, started 1992.

Series - Statistical Studies

Home Office Statistical Bulletins, some 30-40 published each year,

including annual series on cautions/sentences, motoring, breathtests, drug

addicts, drug offenders, police powers, prevention of terrorism, delays in

court, recorded crime (half-yearly).

Statistics Findings: Short Summaries of Statistical results, started 1993.

Annual

Criminal Statistics - England and Wales

Judicial Statistics - England and Wales

Probation Statistics - England and Wales

Prison Statistics - England and Wales

Gordon Barclay

Biannual

Digest of Statistics on the Criminal Justice System

The British Crime Survey

Other publications referred to:

Barclay (1993) The Criminal Justice System in England and Wales

[updated regularly]

Crown Prosecution Service - Annual report

Lewis (1992) The measurement of Crime, Social Trends 1992

Mayhew, Aye Maung and Mirrlees-Black, The 1992 British Crime

Survey, HORS No. 132

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

Richard Blath'

The authors of this booklet were asked to give answers to six questions

on crime and criminal justice statistics in their respective countries. For the

Federal Republic of Germany, the following holds true:

1. Are there any statistics covering the whole area of police and criminal

justice in these respective countries?

In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are no statistics covering the

whole range of police and criminal justice. We do not even have statistics

which collect data on all crimes committed in our country. There are

various reasons for this situation. One is that some offences, for example

customs and tax offences, are dealt with not by the police but by special

agencies who are entitled to prosecute these offences. Another reason is

that the different statistics can and do actually have different aims: criminal

policy matters on the one hand, and organizational planning and control on

the other. So at least it seems difficult to establish or combine statistics

which serve both ends. These different purposes of statistics make it diffi-

cult to create a uniform concept of statistics which covers all aspects and

levels of crime and the criminal justice system. In Germany, there are not

only practical and historical reasons which make the introduction of such

statistics more difficult. In addition, aspects of data protection would make

it very difficult to introduce this kind of "Verlaufsstatistik", as we call it in

Germany.

*

I would like to thank Mrs. Beyer and members of the staff of the translation office of the

Federal Ministry of Justice for their assistance in preparing this paper.

48

Richard Blath

2. Are there any partial statistics, and if so how are they connected? Are

they compatible?

In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are a lot of crime and crimi-

nal justice statistics. In order to comprehend them, it seems necessary to

have at least a good idea of the law enforcement and criminal justice

system. We should also know how these statistics work, which data are

collected by these statistics, and where the gaps are.

I should therefore like to outline German crime and criminal justice

statistics against the background of the different levels of the criminal law

enforcement system. In No. 1 of the supplement, you will find a short

overview of the sections of the proceedings and of the relevant statistics.

a) Crime statistics of the police

Only those crimes which are reported to the law enforcement agencies

can be recorded by crime and criminal justice statistics. In Germany, we do

not have an official crime survey telling us something about the unreported

figures of crime in recent years. However, some local and nationwide crime

surveys has been carried out by criminal research institutes.'

The great majority of crime, but by no means all of it, is handled first

of all by the police. The results of the investigations carried out by the

police are recorded in crime statistics of the police.

1

Schwind, Ahlborn, Eger, Jany, Pudel, WeiB, Dunkelfeldforschung in Gottingen 1973/74,

BKA-Forschungsreihe, Band 2, Wiesbaden 1975; Stephan, Stuttgarter Opferbefragung,

BKA Forschungsreihe, Band 3, Wiesbaden, 1976; Schwind, Ahlborn, WeiB, Empirische

Kriminalgeographie, BKA-Forschungsreihe, Band 8, Wiesbaden 1978; Schwind, Ahlborn,

WeiB, Dunkelfeldforschung in Bochum, BKA-Forschungsreihe, Band 21, Wiesbaden 1989;

Kury, Dérmann, Richter, Wiirger, Opfererfahrungen und Meinungen zur inneren Si-

cherheit in Deutschland, BKA-Forschungsreihe, Band 25, Wiesbaden 1992; Bilsky,

Wetzels, Mecklenburg, Pfeiffer, Subjektive Wahrnehmung von Kriminalitdt und Opfer-

erfahrung, in: Kaiser, Jehle (Hrsg.), Kriminologische Opferforschung. Neue Perspektiven

und Erkenntnisse, Bd. 102 der

euen Kriminologischen Schriftenreihe, Heidelberg 1994,

Gutsche, Sozialer Umbruch und Kriminalitdtsentwicklung in den neuen Bundesliandern,

in: Kaiser, Jehle (Hrsg.), Kriminologische Opferforschung. Neue Perspektiven und

Erkenntnisse, Bd. 102 der Neuen Kriminologischen Schriftenreihe, Heidelberg 1994; Kury,

Zur Bedeutung von Kriminalitdtsentwicklung und Viktimisierung fiir die

erbrechens-

furcht, in: Kaiser, Jehle (Hrsg.), Kriminologische Opferforschung.

cue Perspektiven und

Erkenntnisse, Bd. 102 der Neuen Kriminologischen Schriftenreihe, Heidelberg 1994.

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

49

These statistics include information on the type, place and time of

commission of crime, use of weapons and amount of damage (see No. 2 of

the supplement).

They include further information on the clear-up rate, as well as on the

suspect, for instance age, sex and nationality. Finally, they include - in the

case of criminal violence - some information on the victims (age, sex and

relationship to the offender).

According to German law, in criminal proceedings the police are not

allowed to discontinue criminal proceedings. Only the public prosecutor

and the court have the right to do this. Therefore, the police have to submit

the files to the public prosecutor who takes the further necessary decisions.

The data for crime statistics of the police are collected at the time when

the police close the file of a case prior to handing it over to the public

prosecutor.

It has already been mentioned that not all crimes are included in crime

statistics of the police. For example, road traffic offences are not included,

even though they are handled by the police. Another example are customs

and tax offences.

The figures for crime statistics of the police are published annually by

the Federal Criminal Police Office, Wiesbaden.?

b) Statistics of the prosecution service

When the public prosecutor has received a file, he may - if necessary -

make further investigations, or he may take his decisions on the basis of the

file. He is obliged to discontinue the case if in his opinion no crime has

been committed, or if the suspect has not been proved to have committed

a crime. In less severe criminal cases, the public prosecutor is allowed to

discontinue the proceedings, in some cases with, and in other cases without,

the permission of the court. In most serious cases, he will bring charges

against the defendant or - in less severe cases - apply for a court order

imposing a criminal punishment (suspended sentence up to one year or

fine).

2 Last volume: Bundeskriminalamt, (Hrsg.), Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 1992, Wiesbaden

1993.

50

Richard Blath

At the level of the public prosecutor, we do not have the same type (and

quality) of statistics as for the police. At the level of the prosecution

service, we only have statistics concerning the proceedings, but not on the

defendant (although some information on the number of defendants is

included).

These statistics of the prosecution service include information on

initiation of proceedings, on the duration of proceedings so far, the type of

proceedings, and the type of the dismissal at this stage (see No. 3 of the

supplement).

These statistics have a primarily administrative function (for instance

planning the distribution of the workload and the allocation of personnel).

Nevertheless, these statistics have some relevance for crime policy matters.

They show for instance that in the last two decades, the number of

proceedings dismissed by the public prosecution service has increased

markedly.

The annual figures for the statistics of the prosecution service and the

statistics described below are published by the Federal Statistical Office,

Wiesbaden.?

c¢) Statistics of the criminal court

If the public prosecutor has terminated the proceedings at this level by

indictment or by an application of a court order imposing a criminal

punishment, he sends the file to the criminal court. In case of indictment,

the court examines the so-called interim proceedings as to whether there

is a real chance of reaching a conviction. If this has been established, the

court then opens the so-called main proceedings, which means: preparation

of the trial and the trial itself. When the court has terminated the

proceedings by a conviction or by another decision, the court registry

provides data for another type of statistics, i.e. the statistics of the criminal

court.

These statistics compare the statistics of the prosecution service,

mentioned above. They include, for example, information on the kind of

proceedings, the duration of the proceedings and the kind of termination

3 Last volume: Statistisches Bundesamt, (Hrsg.) Staatsanwaltschaften 1989, Arbeitsunter-

lage, Wiesbaden 1991.

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

51

of these proceedings (see No. 4 of the supplement). Information about the

crimes is not included. Concerning the defendent these statistics provide

only information on their number and on the type of termination of the

proceedings." These statistics are also of a primarily administrative

character.

d) Statistics of Convictions

At court level, there is another type of statistics which is important

mainly for criminal policy matters: the so called "Strafverfolgungsstatistik",

the criminal prosecution statistics. But this term is misleading. For the

purpose of translation we should rather call them statistics of convictions.

In contrast to the above mentioned statistics, these relate to persons

whose criminal proceedings at the court level have been concluded. That

means that a conviction or another decision (for instance discontinuation,

acquittal, order of transfer to a psychiatric hospital) taken in respect of the

accused person has come into force.

These statistics include information on the most severe crime of which

the defendant has been accused or for which he has been convicted. They

include further information about the person (with respect to age, sex and

nationality) and information on the type of court decision, in particular

sanctions (see No. 5 of the supplement).’

e) Prison statistics

Once the decision of the court has entered into force, the next phase of

the criminal proceedings begins: the execution of the sentence.

Whilst we do not have comprehensive statistics on this phase, there are

however statistics relating to certain types of sanctions. Several statistics

concern prison inmates. In this field, there are statistics which are collected

on a monthly basis and which concern prison accommodation, the number

of admissions and the number of releases. In addition, we have statistics

which, on 31 March of every year, count the number of inmates serving a

prison sentence. These statistics include some information on the prisoner

4 Last volume: Statistisches Bundesamt, (Hrsg.), Strafgerichte 1990, Wiesbaden 1993.

5 Last volume: Statistisches Bundesamt, (Hrsg.), Fachserie 10 "Rechtspflege", Reihe 3

"Strafverfolgung 1991", Stuttgart: Metzler-Poeschel 1993.

52

Richard Blath

(age, sex and family status), the most severe crime committed, the type of

custody and the duration of the prison sentence. There is also some

statistical information on convicted persons in mental hospitals and in

hospitals for alcoholics and drug addicts (see No. 6 of the supplement).®

f) Probation statistics

In accordance with the Penal Code, a prison sentence of up to two years

may be suspended. The remainder of a prison sentence can also be

suspended when 2/3 (or more) of the sentence have been served.

In these cases of a conviction, a sentenced person is placed on probation

if the conviction was subject to juvenile criminal law. In cases of such a

conviction according to the general - i.e. adult - criminal law, the convicted

person may, but need not, be placed under the supervision of the probation

service.

We collect some statistical data on the procedure and the outcome of

probation. These probation statistics include information on the person

(age, sex, nationality, most severe crime committed, type of sanctions, the

type of outcome, duration of the probation periods; see No. 7 of the

supplement).’

From this it can b;: ascertained that these crime and criminal justice

statistics are not connected with each other. Only some statistics are

compatible. For instance, the statistics of the criminal prosecution service

and those of the criminal courts are designed so as to be comparable. Both

series of statistics count proceedings, and they both include information on

the type and the duration of the proceedings and the decisions finally

taken.

Last volume: Statistisches Bundesamt, (Hrsg.), Fachserie 10 "Rechtspflege", Reihe 4.1 und

4.2, "Strafvollzug am 31.3.1991", Stuttgart,

etzler-Poeschel 1993.

Last volume: Statistisches Bundesamt, (Hrsg.), Fachserie 10 "Rechtspflege”, Reihe 5,

"Bewihrungshilfe 1990", Stuttgart: Metzler-Poeschel 1992.

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

53

Comparisons are often made between the number of suspects recorded

in the crime statistics of the police and the number of convicted persons,

recorded in the criminal prosecution statistics, who are suspected and

convicted of a certain offence or crime. But differences in the type of data

collection, time lags and the change of the judicial evaluation of the crime

committed in the course of the criminal proceedings make such a

comparison really difficult. In addition, there is a gap in the information

available on persons whose proceedings are terminated by the public pro-

secutor. Also, this gap creates some difficulties in interpreting the

differences between the number of suspects and the number of persons

convicted of a particular offence.

There are also gaps in the information available with respect to the

execution of sentences, besides the prison statistics, for instance in cases

where a conviction is suspended and no transfer takes place to the

probation service. There is also a lack of information in the area of prison

statistics. Therefore, we do not have sufficient information on prisoners

admitted to and released from prison.

Finally, we do not have nationwide statistics on the execution of fines

and on recidivism. A summary of the existing crime and criminal justice

statistics is to be found under No. 8 of the supplement. No. 9 of the

supplement gives a rough impression of the numerical volume of crimes,

defendants and proceedings at the different levels of the criminal justice

system.

3. What can be said about the reliability and the value of data of

statistics?

Generally, it can be said that the existing crime and criminal justice

statistics in Germany are extremely reliable. Certainly each statistic contains

mistakes, but all the statistics mentioned are collected by specialised

regional offices. Crime statistics of the police are gathered by the criminal

police offices of the Linder, and by the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The statistics of the criminal justice systems are collected by the statistical

offices of the Lander and by the Federal Statistical Office. Every statistic

is examined with respect to accuracy and completeness. So, in principle, we

can rely on the results of these statistics.

54

Richard Blath

Also, statistical data are of high value in respect of the administration

of criminal justice and crime policy matters. They are widely used for these

purposes.

There are, however, certainly some shortcomings in our statistical data

collection which we are trying to surmount at present. Working groups

consisting of representatives of the Linder and Federal Ministries of

Justice and statistical offices are about to fill some of the gaps in our

gathering of statistical data.

4

What will be the future developments regarding modes of survey and

computerisation of data collection and evaluation? How can the

availability of data be improved?

Computerisation of data collection in the criminal justice and prison

administration systems will improve the quality of statistics and make the

data collecting processes easier. In addition, it will open the way to filling

at least some gaps in our system of criminal justice statistics. On the other

hand, availability, which means the use of data stored in data banks of the

administration of justice, is now, and will remain, restricted by legal

provisions. So, we need to be a little patient as regards the opening of these

data bases for statistical purposes. Insofar as the existing legal provision

does not allow the use‘of these data for statistical purposes, new legal

provisions allowing the statistical use of such data are being planned or are

in a state of preparation.

5. How far can official statistics be replaced in future or complemented

by victim surveys and microcensus?

According to the existing legislation on microcensus, it will not be

possible to include in these statistics questions concerning undetected

crimes or offences.

Crime statistics should be complemented by victim surveys. A number

of victim surveys have been carried out in Germany in recent years. The

main problems involved in carrying out such victim surveys over fixed

periods are financial ones. In the light of the present fiscal situation, a

number of doubts have arisen as to whether it will be possible in future to

carry out such surveys repeatedly.

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

55

On the other hand, existing crime statistics should not be replaced by

victim surveys. Victim surveys cannot cover offences with low incidence

rates. A consequence of such a replacement would be that we would not

get information on the whole range of criminal offences or crimes, as is

almost the case with our police crime statistics.

6. Is it possible to establish international comparability/compatibility of

national statistics?

Countries differ in respect of their law enforcement and criminal justice

systems. In addition, the penal codes of countries differ. Consequently, the

countries have different crime and criminal justice statistics, and the results

of these statistics may be of varying significance. This holds true at least

with regard to the details of the provisions of the Penal Code and of the

law enforcement and criminal justice system.

On the other hand, the different penal laws and structures of the

criminal law enforcement and criminal justice systems may share some

common features. As far as comparability exists and the relevant statistics

are compatible, it must be possible to establish international comparability

or compatibility of national statistics.

A group of specialists set up by the European Committee of Crime

Problems of the Council of Europe, is about to examine the feasability of

a "European Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics". I do hope that the

results of this group of experts will open up the possibility of establishing

internationally comparable crime and criminal justice statistics, at least on

the European level.

7. Concluding Remarks

The new developments in Europe, above all the opening of the borders,

the breakdown of the old regimes and the building of new political

structures in Eastern Europe, as well as the process of growing integration

between the countries of Eastern and Western Europe - in the economic

field - have an enormous impact on criminality and on the suppression and

prevention of crime by police forces and by the criminal justice system.

56

Richard Blath

To cope with these new developments, there seems to me to be a need

to intensify mutual cooperation between countries while combating and

preventing crime.

A first step in this respect can be, and should be, the exchange of

information, not only in relation to the solving of concrete criminal cases,

but also in respect to the general situation of crime and the criminal justice

system.

Crime and criminal justice statistics provide important and broad

information of this kind.

Supplement

Table of the most important crime and

criminal justice statistics

58

Richard Blath

1.

section of the criminal

statistics name

proceedings

criminal investigation:

police

reporting to the police

crime statistics of

the police

starting proceedings

end of the investigations

by the police

prosecution service

- starting proceedings

statistics of the

prosecution service

- end of the proceedings

[criminal prosecution

on the prosecution level

statistics]

Interim and main proceedings.

- receipt of the case

statistics of the criminal

court

proceedings of penal

statistics of

order

convictions

interim proceedings

main proceedings

procedure concerning

means of redress

final decision

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

59

statistics name

sections of the proceedings

proceedings concerming execution

correctional systems/probation

supervision of conduct

fine

none

juvenile punishment

with suspension

probation statistics

without suspension

suspension of the remaining

prison statistics

prison sentence

probation statistics

imprisonment with suspension:

without probation

none

with probation

probation statistics

without suspension:

prison statistics

suspension of the remaining

prison sentence

without probation

none

with probation

probation statistics

new proceedings

none

- police

none

- prosecution service

-

court

envisaged recidivism

statistics

probation statistics

60

Richard Blath

2. crime statistics of the police

statistical units

statistical characteristics

1. crimes

crime

place; time of crime

use of weapons

volume of damage

clearance rate

2. suspects

age

gender

nationality

domicile

group offence

alcohol

previous record

drug addiction

3. victims (violent acts)

age

gender

relationship to the suspect

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

61

3. statistics of the prosecution service

statistical units

statistical characteristics

proceedings (prosecution level):

number of proceedings

person unknown

known defendants

agency

the duration of proceedings

type of proceedings

final decision

accusation

other decisions

termination with conditions

termination with-

out conditions

number of defendants

appeal

road traffic offence

economic crime

62

Richard Blath

4

statistics of the criminal court

statistical units

statistical characteristics

proceedings (court level)

duration of proceedings

type of starting of

proceedings

number of defendants

number of trials

number of trial days

members of the last trial

type of termination

appeals

road traffic offence

5. statistics of convictions

statistical units

statistical characteristics

defendants

month/year of the final

decision

gender

age

nationality

most severe crime

victimized child

type of decision/sanctions

remand custody

duration/reasons

previous convictions

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

63

6. prison statistics

statistical units

statistical characteristics

prisoners

prisons

capacity

type of custody

remand custody

imprisonment

juvenile imprisonment

preventive custody

penal arrest

custody pending deportation

prisoners (at the 31 march)

gender

age

nationality

familiy status

domicile

previous convictions

type of custody

duration of custody

most severe crime

persons committed to a mental

type of institution

hospital or to an institution

temporary commitment

for curing drug addicts and

alcoholics

type of addiction

revocation

age

family status

64

Richard Blath

7. probation statistics

statistical units

statistical characteristics

clients

gender

age

nationality

most severe crime

type of probation

reason for terminating

probation

duration of the remaining

prison sentence

duration of the probationary

period

previous probation

probation officer

number

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Germany

65

8. crime and criminal justice statistics

name

period/date

statistical unit

type of data

crime

year

case

single

suspect

victim

public

year

proceedings

single

prosecution

1.1

-"—

aggregate

"

31‘.12.

n

month

criminal court

year

proceedings

n

single

1.1

aggregate

n

31.12.

n

month

criminal

year

defendant

single

prosecution

prison

31.3

prisoner

single

aggregate

31.12

"

year

"

aggregate

month

probation

year

client

"

single

31.12.

-

aggregate

31.12.

probation

officer

66

Richard Blath

9. Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics Federal Republic

of Germany

Some Figures 1990

Crime Statistics of the Police

number of crimes

4 455 333

number of cleared up cases

2093 130

number of suspects

1437 923

Statistics of the Prosecution Service (country court)

2 575 996

number of proceedings, unknown defendant

2 876 090

number of finalized proceedings

number of charges

413 924

number motions to fine order

473 766

number of proceedings discontinued

with conditions

177 983

without conditions

428 427

774 712

no sufficient reason for charge

Statistics of Criminal Courts

number of finalized proceedings

642 902

Criminal Prosecution Statistics

number of defendants

878 305

692 363

number of sentenced persons

adult penal law

615 089

prison sentence without suspension

32 749

prison sentence with suspension

69 705

ine

512 343

77 274

juvenile criminal law

4319

prison sentence without suspension

prison sentence with suspension

7 784

youth detention

12 785

other means of correction

37 408

corrective disciplinary action

14 978

Prison Statistics

number of prisoners 31.12.

44 335

number of untried prisoners

14 070

number of convicted prisoners

adult penal law

25 581

juvenile penal law

3421

189

preventive custody

Probation Statistics

number of probations 31.12.

131 381

terminated probations

40 795

adult penal law

27 686

with success

19 304

revocation

8 382

juvenile criminal law

13 109

with success

9 793

revocation

3 316

Greek Crime Statistics

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

Introductory remarks

Historical context

Statistical categories and some legal explications

On advantages and disadvantages of particular sources of data

4.1. Police statistics or information on suspected crimes

4.2. Criminal court statistics or information on convicted individuals

4.3. Prison statistics or information on detainees

Discussion and assessment

5.1. Police and criminal justice "system" from "above" and "below"

5.2. Compatibility

5.3. Reliability and value of data

5.4. Future developments

5.5. Victim surveys and self-report delinquency studies

5.6. International comparability and compatibility

Speculations on the potential of Greek statistics

68

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

1. Introductory Remarks

Crime statistics in Greece are accused for unreliability, for being pub-

lished with great delay, for uncomparability and for being amenable to mis-

interpretation or misuse. Some of those accusations are true for some types

of statistics on the national level only, and some are true for statistics of

other countries as well. In the following discussion an attempt is made to

describe the sources, structure and content of published statistics in relation

"

to the criminal justice "system

and to assess them taking into considera-

tion the international perspective.

2. Historical Context

Greek crime statistics have a history of more than 100 years. The first

official data on crime in Greece were published in 1883 in the "Govern-

ment’s Gazette". These old data referred to:

a) prosecutions,

b) convictions, and

c) acquittals.

Some years later, the Ministry of Justice published its own statistics.

These included statistical information on prison population of the years

1889, 1901 and 1908. For the years 1911-1913 data on court agents’ activi-

ties, namely, "statistics on civil justice" and "crime statistics" were collected

by the same Ministry. These publications were interrupted by World War

I and some years later "crime statistics" were published again - for the years

1926 to 1937 - this time by the Ministry of National Economy. This Ministry

published "prison statistics", which in fact continued appearing until World

War 112

1

For a discussion of this "system" as non-system or as a

process perspective, see A. Ruther-

ford, in Council of Europe, Interactions within the Criminal Justice System, Strasburg,

1987, pp. 9-10).

C. D. Spinellis, Eglimatologia. Synhrones kai palaioteres katefthynsis, Athina, 1985, pp.

59 ff.

Greek Crime Statistics

69

After the dramatic events of World War II and the Greek Civil War, a

more systematic collection of "court statistics" and of "prison statistics"

started in 1957. In 1970, the first "police statistics" were published including

data on "committed felonies and misdemeanours and their alleged perpetra-

n3

tors

. Since then, the Greek crime statistics include data stemming from

three basic sources: the police, the criminal courts and the prisons and

other custodial institutions. These statistics are published (annually but with

a considerable delay) by the National Statistical Service of Greece in a

volume entitled "Statistics of Justice. Civil Justice, Criminal Statistics and

Prison Statistics". The volume "Statistics of Justice" consists of three parts:

i) Civil Justice ii) Police Crime Statistics and Criminal Justice Statistics and

iii) Prison Statistics. This publication of the National Statistics of Greece

should be differentiated from another, entitled "Statistical Yearbook of

Police" published by the Ministry of Public Order since 1983.

From the above information, one may conclude that Greek statistics

appear to be scattered in many publications. Many years are missing and

their structure often changes. Thus, before 1957, one cannot find compara-

ble data on convictions or on prison statistics. As far as police statistics are

concerned, before 1970, a lot of data are missing. After 1984, however, with

the integration of police and gendarmerie forces and with the computeriza-

tion of these statistics the "Statistical Yearbook of Police" is the best source

of relevant information®. Therefore, generally speaking, crime statistics in

Greece are not very useful in providing reliable information for a long

period of time. Nevertheless, they do not differ from crime statistics of

other countries with respect to discontinuities or alterations due to wars,

or to socio-political changes’. It is then safe to suggest that at least for the

past two decades, Greek statistics provide some systematic information on

crime and the activities within the criminal justice. This statement, however,

needs some elaboration and elucidation.

3

Ibid., p. 60.

4

This assessment is made after classical criminological literature. Quetelet was the first to

rely on crimes reported to the police, followed by Sellin and thus, creating a tradition for

using these statistics as a basis for most theorizing on crime rates (see A. K. Bottomley,

Criminology in Focus. Past trends and future prospects, 1979, p. 22).

See, i.e., the brief historical account on crime statistics in the United States, in Suther-

land/Cressey, Criminology, New York, 1978, pp. 35 ff.

70

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

3. Statistical Categories and Some Legal Explications

As already stated Greek crime statistics are of two kinds: Statistics

published by the Ministry of Justice (which also include some information

on police statistics and may be found in "Statistics of Justice" volume) and

those published by the Ministry of Public Order (appearing in "Statistical

Yearbook of Police"). Both publications follow the classifications of the

Greek Penal Code but they also contain data on violations of other Special

Laws (Nebengesetze). Parenthetically, it should be mentioned that these

violations account for approximately 75 % of the total criminality of the

country.

The data contained in the above publications are fragmentary on many

issues and it is not so clear according to which criteria certain offences are

selected to be presented individually, others in categories and still others

omitted (e.g. violations of Customs’ Laws). The lack though of a particular

system of selection leaves space for assessment to the researcher and thus,

bias with regard to this matter® is avoided.

More specifically, Greek statistics include information on:

i)

20 broad categories of offences defined according to "legal goods threa-

tened" (Rechtsgiiter) - e.g. crimes: "against life

nn

)

nn

non

against public order",

n on

"against sexual freedom

b

against property

b

against honour

)

against

religious peace" etc.’.

6 Compare Uniform Crime Reports of the FBIL. The selection of information and the

classification of offences leads to biased description of the crime problem in the United

States, where the white-collar crime and drug offences are underrepresented (S. E.

Brown/F-A. Erbsen/G. Geis, Criminology. Explaining crime and its context, Cincinnnati,

1991, pp. 130 ff.). Nevertheless, it seems to be practically difficult to accumulate statistical

information on the so-called "modern criminality" (Nordic Criminal Statistics, 1950-1989.

Summary of a Report, 1991, p. 10).

See i.e. table B: 7 in National Statistical Service of Greece, "Statistiki tis Dikeosinis.

Politikis Dikeosinis, Eglimatologikis ke Sofronistikis", year 1988, 1992 (edited), pp. 76 ff.

Greek Crime Statistics

4!

1)

approximately 80 offences considered basic, serious or frequent, are

presented separately (e.g. "intentional homicide", negligent homicide",

"theft of all kinds", "thefts and embezzlements of low value" etc.?,

n"nn

i)

more than 15 Special Laws (e.g. Laws concerning "illegal arms

)

public

health violation

Jon

o)

protection of Labour", "Market Law", "Motor Ve-

hicle violations", "Drugs", "Gambling", "Tax Law violations" etc.

With respect to age-group categories the Greek Penal Code’s relevant

provisions are followed (art. 121-133 GPC), i.e. data refer to the following

groups: 7-12 years (provision for educational or therapeutic measures only),

13-17 years (provision for the same measures as a rule and for deprivation

of liberty in a reformatory in exceptional cases), 18-20 years (provision for

the same treatment as adult offenders, but the judge may apply more

lenient sanctions because of mitigating circumstances); the adult age-groups

also represent unequal age intervals: 21-24 years, 25-29 years, 30-34 years,

35-44 years, 45-59 years, 60 and more.

Finally, attention should be drawn to classifications according to seri-

ousness of the offences and their penalties. The Greek Penal Code distin-

guishes offences into felonies, misdemeanours and petty offences. Life

incarceration or incarceration of 5 up to 20 years is provided for felonies,

imprisonment of 10 days up to 5 years and/or a pecuniary penalty is

provided for misdemeanours and detention of 10 days up to 1 month or a

fine is provided for petty offences. There are other penalties as well

imposed on special cases: i.e., supplementary penalties and security

measures (art. 18, 50-58 GPC)’. Last but not least, it should be pointed

out

b

i)

that crime statistics do not include petty offences (e.g. "change of

"nn

nn

name",

causing disturbance by noise

’

unlawful preparation and fur-

nishing of poison" etc.),

8

Ibid., pp. 43 ff.

9 See Dionysios D. Spinellis, "Criminal law and Procedure" in Kerameus/Kozyris eds.,

Introduction to the Greek Law, Athens, 1993, pp. 348-351.

72

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

ii) that criminal court statistics include irrevocable only decisions on con-

victed individuals.

4. On Advantages and Disadvantages of Particular Sources of Data

In order to assess official crime statistics a more specific description of

the three different sources of official data, namely police, criminal courts

and prisons, is needed. This description should refer to:

i)

the method of data collection,

ii)

the selection processes, and

i)

the advantages and disadvantages of each entity of data for the user.

It should be mentioned that, together with reliabilty and validity, a

related significant matter for the user is to gather detailed information

from the already planned and organized collection of data.

4.1

Police Statistics or Information on Suspected Crimes

The police statistics which are included in the "Statistics of Justice"

volume give information on felonies and misdemeanours of alleged of-

fenders. This information refers to the offender’s sex, age and the

geographic region where the crime was allegedly committed. Data included

in this publication are selective. The selection is made in a way that

facilitates comparability with court statistics in which similar categories are

included. These police statistics are meaningful provided that they are used

in a study focusing on offenders and offences more and less on the criminal

justice "system" per se (Aetiologisches Paradigma vs. Kontrollparadigma)'®.

The comparability between police statistics and court statistics as presented

in the present volume is not the only advantage of these police statistics.

Police statistics:

10 See S. Lamnek, Theorien abweichenden Verhaltens, Basel/Stuttgart, 1979, pp. 238 ff.

Greek Crime Statistics

73

-

Distinguish between attempted and accomplished crimes.

-

Include crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants aged 7 years and above.

Yet, they have a lot of weak points as well. For instance:

Data are presented in an overgeneralized manner as the National Statis-

tical Service is a secondary source of selection - the first being the

relevant section of the Ministry of Public Order.

Data on occupation, education or nationality of the alleged offender do

not exist.

No data are given on crimes committed by more than one person

(gangs, bands, conspiracies, organized crime etc.)".

However, a presentation of Greek police crime statistics cannot be

complete unless reference is made to the already mentioned "Statistical

Yearbook of Police" - a separate publication which encompass information

on police activities. In this publication, information about offences is more

detailed, and among others, it includes data on crimes known to the police,

detected and undetected crimes, months of the year that crimes are com-

milted, some categories of victims of crime, offences committed in football

and basketball games etc.'’. These statistics appear in a less systematic

form than the police statistics in the "Statistics of Justice" volume but they

contain more information than the latter.

4.2 Criminal Court Statistics or Information on Convicted Individuals

Court statistics, namely "statistics of convicted individuals" are more

detailed than police statistics. They provide information on the offender’s

sex, age, education, occupation, marital status, and area of residence, as

well as on geographical region where the crime was committed, the type or

11 C. D. Spinellis, op. cit., p. 61.

12 Ministry of Public Order, Statistiki Epetirida tis Astinomias", 1992, pp. 9 ff.

74

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

category of crime, recidivism, penalties or other therapeutic or custodial

measures. Moreover, court statistics include information on juveniles’

treatment and sex, geographical region where the offence was committed,

as well as data on the criminal activity of non-Greek nationals.

The method of collection of court statistics may be briefly described as

follows: Special cards for each convicted person are filled in by the courts’

secretaries and they are sent to the Statistical Service. Each card is called

"statistical bulletin of the convicted person" and is divided into three parts:

The first part includes the personal characteristics of the convicted indivi-

dual (area of birth and residence, age, occupation and marital status at the

time the offence was committed). The second part includes information on

the type of crime, place and time referring to the "commission" of the act,

type of conviction (sentence or custodial measure and suspension of sen-

tence). The third part contains information on the offender’s criminal

record before the commission of the act.

The basis of calculation is the "individual conviction". In other words, if

somebody is convicted for three different offences during the same year,

he/she appears three times in the court statistics. Needless to add that,

his/her personal characteristics will be registered three times, as if he/she

was three persons. However, his/her sentence will be registered only once

on a cumulative basis".

Court statistics referring to convicted individuals chronologically are far

away from the time of the commission of the offence; therefore, they

describe crime in a less accurate way than police statistics. Nevertheless,

Greek court statistics and especially the way of their presentation, reveal

some positive aspects:

They encompass a "crime rate" calculated on the basis of 100,000 inhabi-

tants aged 7 years and above (sece under 3.). Moreover, there exists a

recidivism rate constructed in the same way. (Recidivists per 100,000

inhabitants).

13 C. D. Spinellis, op. cit., p. 62.

Greek Crime Statistics

75

They include detailed information about the way the data are tabulated

with references to specific provisions of the Penal Code and the Special

Penal Laws.

They contain comparative tables referring to criminality, sentences and

custodial or therapeutic measures for a period of five years.

They encompass particular tables referring to the handling of juvenile

offenders aged 7 to 17 years and to young adult offenders aged 18 to 20

years.

They include data on convicted aliens, the category of their offence and

the country of their permanent residence.

Court statistics though, as police statistics, are not free from disadvan-

tages. Namely:

-

They have omissions in the registration of offenders’ demographic or

other data. Therefore, categories like "sentence not declared", "age

unknown" etc. are included in the statistical tables.

- They lack information on cases where imprisonment is converted to

pecuniary sentence - a kind of "day fine". Such a conversion is provided

by the Penal Code, art. 82, and is often used by the judge in Greece.

For instance, there is no information on the numbers of persons who

remain detained because they do not have the means to pay their

converted sentence or on the number of recidivists from those whose

sentence was converted etc.

-

They include age - categories with arbitrary intervals, i.e. 18-20, 21-24,

25-29, 30-34, 35-44, 45-59 etc.

Data on the suspension of sentences are presented according to the type

of offence and sex of the offender only, and not according to other

characteristics of the offender: e.g. age, occupation, marital status etc.

76

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

-

There is no information on the population of each geographical region,

where the offence is committed, or a crime rate for each region.

As far as aliens’ criminality is concerned there is no information on the

number of temporary residents from each country and therefore ab-

solute numbers are almost meaningless. For instance, if 21 Australians,

37 Italians and 2 Bulgarians are convicted in 1988 in Greece, this infor-

mation is not amenable to any meaningful comparative conclusions,

since the total number of these countries’ temporary residents in Greece

is not given.

The categories of occupation are vague. For example, in a category like

"persons occupied in agriculture, farming, logging etc.", various profes-

sions are included which are far from being arranged in a scale of so-

cio-economic status. Therefore, these categories are almost useless for

socioeconomic comparisons.

- No data exist on prosecutions or on acquittals'.

4.3 Prison Statistics or Information on Detainees

The directors of custodial institutions provide every three months:

i)

statistical cards for each adult or juvenile detainee who is in their

institution,

i1)

information on persons on pre-trial detention, and

i)

data on persons detained because of debts to the state. These cards are

also filled in for each individual who is released from the institution

and they include the released person’s data: sex, level of education,

type of sentence,offence for which he/she was sentenced and date and

reason of release. A similar card is filled in for released juveniles. In

14 1Ibid., pp. 63-64.

Greek Crime Statistics

77

the juvenile’s card data on the following are included: his/her family’s

environment, occupation, level of education, training and time spent in

the institution, reason of incarceration and release and previous record.

Individual cards are also completed for every person who is detained

in any custodial institution or other penitentiary at the 31st of Decem-

ber of each year.

Therefore, in prison statistics, one may find information in particular on:

The total number of persons who are detained in a year, in any institu-

tion for adults or minors (psychiatric institutions for convicted indivi-

duals are also included).

The total number of persons who are detained in one custodial institu-

tion or in all of them in a particular day. For example, during 1982,

6,921 persons were detained, whereas in the 31st of December 1982 the

number of detained persons was 2,991",

The total number of first offenders and of recidivists.

S. Discussion and Assessment

So far statistics have been mainly presented in a static fashion, in other

words, as particular sources of data which supply information on various

crime issues. In the following discussion these sources will be considered

as inputs and outputs of sub-systems of the criminal justice "system". Within

this frame, substantial information on the real input to the system - i.e. an

input which would include most of the offences found in the dark area of

crime - may be acquired through victimization and self-report studies which

will be considered as well.

In this context six main issues will be discussed. The first refers to the

question whether Greek statistics cover the whole area of the police and

15 National Statistical Service of Greece, op. cit., p. 121.

78

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

the criminal justice "system". The second is related to the compatibility of

statistics stemming from the various sub-systems. The third concerns the

issue of reliability and value of data of crime statistics'®. Future develop-

ments regarding computerization of data and the replacement of official

statistics by victim surveys or self-report studies are the next issues to be

considered. Finally, the possibility to establish comparability and compatibi-

lity of Greek statistics with crime statistics of other countries is discussed.

5.1 Police and Criminal Justice "system" from "above" and "below"

The answer to the question whether "Greek statistics cover the whole

area of the criminal justice "system" from police down to custodial and

non-custodial institutions, passing through the prosecutor’s office and the

criminal courts" depends on the researcher’s approach. If the selective

nature of crime statistics is not questioned and is taken for granted, a look

"from above" may lead to the conclusion that both the police and the

administration of criminal justice are basically covered by these statistics.

In other words, the main sub-systems, namely police, courts and prisons are

adequately represented in the officially published volumes on crime statis-

tics (see above 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3), since they encompass - at least formally -

data from all police stations, all criminal courts and all custodial institutions

of the country. The integration of police and gendarmerie has also con-

tributed to the uniformity of data presentation, i.e., there are now fewer

differences in the collection and tabulation of data in the big cities and

provincial areas than before.

On the other hand, if the researcher approaches the system "from below"

certain aspects of the police organization are crucial to the answer. Such

an aspect is that crime data are initially written in books which are kept by

16 Reliability in this context refers to the consistency of repeated data from a single observer

as well as agreement among observers (See, for instance, A. Binder/G. Geis, Methods of

Research in Crimininology and Criminal Justice, New York, 1983, p. 128). Value of data

relates to the notion of validity, namely the degree the researcher has measured what he

set out to measure (see, for instance, H. W. Smith, Strategies of Social Research. The

Methodological Imagination, Prentice/Hall Intern., London, 1975, p. 61). See, also C. M.

Glinnie, Improvements to crime statistics, in Council of Europe, Means of Improving

Information in Crime, Strasburg, 1976, pp. 39-40.

Greek Crime Statistics

79

officers in local police stations. There are approximately 52 police stations

only in the area of Athens, and the information sent to the General Securi-

ty of the Police, then to the Ministry of Public Order and finally to the

National Statistical Service could be diversified, unwillingly or even willing-

ly, in the process of transfering the information from one agency to an-

other. Consequently, many offences - especially those considered petty

offences - do not reach the central bureaus of the police. Because of this

and other organisational parameters, even the datum "crimes known to the

police" in the "Statistical Yearbook of Police" could be the result of either

an erroncous classification of a crime, or a selective registration process

that could take place within the police.

Hence, one may argue that crime rates in certain areas of the city of

Athens and of the country as well, are over- or underrepresented in police

crime statistics. A more formal, detailed and accurate registration of vic-

tims’ reports at local stations together with a system that would allow direct

flows of information through computers to the Statistical Service is needed.

Such changes though should be accompanied by a general shift towards

professional policing'” and appropriate personnel training,

5.2 Compatibility

It is a truism to state that every stage of the criminal justice "system” is

a different organization and that the justice agents’ interests and purposes

are also different. It can be argued that the information they provide to the

researcher is a "side product” of various aims which are irrelevant to his/her

work. In this respect, compatibility among statistics produced by the sub-

17 "Professional policing" is characterized by commitment of the officers to "community

relations" and use of technology (S. Holdaway, "Changes in Urban Policing", British

Journal of Sociology, v. 28, 1977, p. 124). The term refers to the British experience of the

Unit Beat Policing system which was introduced in all forces of the country following the

Home Office Report in 1967. Furthermore, two notions of "professional policing" can be

discerned. Managerial professionalism, which is represented by the function of community

liaison, training and administrative officers, theory of police management and the

olicy

statements of police officers. This notion is compatible to the public image of po

f

cing.

Practical professionalism remains a series of hedonistic, protective and highly practical

activities which are largely opposed to managerial professionalism (ibid., p. 134). It can

be argued that practical professionalism is crucial in many aspects of police work and

determinative for the information on crime rates.

80

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

systems of the system of justice cannot be attained. The Greek statistics

give easily support to this argument. For example, there are differences in

the way data are organized in police and court statistics. Police statistics

refer to allegedly committed offences primarily and then to alleged offen-

ders, while court statistics refer to convicted individuals.

The argument that compatibility of crime statistics cannot be reached,

could be employed for any source of crime data, like victimization or self-

report studies. Nevertheless, a number of prominent criminologists in the

United States have found, in relation to FBI, victimization (NCR) and

self-report data, that the various sources of information about crime are

somewhat more compatible than first believed possible, since the crime

patterns they record are often quite similar'®. Despite these similarities

though, comparing the sources can result in confusing and contradictory

findings because of the use of different methods of acquiring data. These

differences must be carefully considered in any interpretation of crime

trends'. And in any case, such observations of crime trends in the Greek

statistics as well as comparisons with other data would require multiple

sources of information, which do not exist.

An approach of the Greek criminal justice "system" as a sequential

process reveals an additional problem. There is no statistical information

regarding the intermediate stages of this process. No data are published on

cases at the public prosecutors’ offices or on the Judicial Councils®.

Besides that, court delay in Greece, appears to be significant, as compared

to other European countries, where courts are organized in a more efficient

way”'. Therefore, the flow of cases cannot be observed in the statistics,

neither from police to courts, nor from courts to prisons. (A rough des-

18

This opinion is supported by Alfred Blumstein, Jacqueline Cohen and Richard Rosenfeld

(L. J. Siegel, Criminology. Theories, patterns and typologies, New York, 1993, p. 76).

19

Ibid., p. 77.

20

For the pre-trial stage and the stage before the Judicial Councils, see Dion. Spinellis, op.

cit., pp. 358360.

21

Council of Europe, Delays in the Criminal Justice System, Strasbourg 1992. A systematic

study on this matter is missing. One may draw this conclusion by comparing the date of

incident and date of decision in Greek jurisprudence (see legal journals Poinika Chronica,

Armenopoulos etc.).

Greek Crime Statistics

81

cription of flows would be the following: In 1988 the input of police was

311,179 or 3,397 per 100,000 inhabitants and the output of the criminal

courts was 132,925 convictions or 1,451 per 100,000 inhabitants and the

input in custodial institutions was 6,921 individuals, while the output (re-

leased) 3,905 individuals)®. Yet, the only instance, where the flow may be

accurately estimated is, as already mentioned, at the end of the process, in

the prison statistics (the number of the released persons from those de-

tained in a year, see above, under 4.3.). In custodial institutions, though, as

one would expect, ends up only (approx.) 1/45 of the alleged offences.

5.3 Reliability and Value of Data

The question of reliability and value of data in the statistics may have

a different answer according to the three main sources of this data. The

most credible statistics with the criterion of what is set out to be

measured® are those of prisons, provided that the goal is simply to

measure detainees and not crime rates or severity of sanctions. With the

same criterion, and if the goal is to measure criminality, police statistics

deem most reliable for they meet the well-known criterion of closeness of

the source to the point of generation of the information being provided™.

Moreover, in Greece the principle of legality applies and police, with the

exception of petty offences, does not have much discretion in selecting the

cases to be forwarded to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. However, inaccura-

cies may be found in police statistics because of erroncous classifications

of the crime (e.g. a crime may be classified as misdemeanour by police and

as felony by courts or as intentional homicide by police and negligent

homicide by courts). Furthermore, as already mentioned, police statistics

refer to suspects and some of them my be proved innocent at the later

stages of the administration of justice. Nevertheless, the existence of dark

figure neutralizes this potential overrepresentation.

22 Calculations based on data of the National Statistical Service of Greece, op. cit.

23 The criterion of value of data (see note 16).

24 C. M. Glinnie, op.cit., p. 40.

82

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

However, the reliability of police statistics may be questioned on the

basis of the criteria of

i)

the degree of self interest involved on the part of the person responsi-

ble for keeping the records and

it)

the extent to which the person making the return has been trained to

know what is required of him®. It is exactly on the basis of these two

last criteria that court statistics as compared with police statistics are

more reliable, provided that one is interested to acquire through infor-

mation more on the courts’ activities and less on the quantity and

quality of criminality or on the profile of the offender. Yet, the fact

that Greek statistics do not include data on acquittals blurs somewhat

the picture decribing the "production” of criminal courts within a cer-

tain period of time. Moreover, despite the absence of the principle of

expedience or oppotunity, some selectivity process occurs, especially

through the public prosecutors’ powers and the intervention of well-

known lawyers.

Overall, due to the lack of statistical information at intermediate stages

on the one hand, and to the court delay on the other, it could be suggested

that Greek statistics do not describe the criminal justice process accurately.

The information they provide is, in any case, fragmentary. Nevertheless, this

information appears for twenty years uniformly in the "Statistics of Justice".

That is, consistent patterns of crime can be observed for this period in the

official statistics.

5.4 Future Developments

Official crime data collection has traditionally relied upon complicated

police and courts’ burcaucracy. One of the most serious handicaps of the

Greek statistics, to which attention has been initially drawn (see above,

under 1.) is their publication with great delay. This delay leads the resear-

cher to crude estimations regarding recent changes in crime rates. Given

25 Ibid.

Greek Crime Statistics

83

the fact though that computerization in the public sector is expanding, it

could be expected that in the very near future, information provided by the

National Statistical Service of Greece will be collected, processed, analysed

and presented faster than before. The use of information technology by the

criminal justice should have a positive impact on the quantity and quality

of data as well. However, the fulfilment of such expectations depends

always on organizational parameters and economic priorities.

With respect to the availability of data one could assume that modern

technology which is in process of being applied in Greece, will improve

interconnections among various organizations which produce and elaborate

crime information. Such organizations are: i) the criminal justice sub-

systems, ii) Ministries and iii) the National Statistical Service on the one

hand, and the autonomous research centres and the University research

institutes, on the other. One could hope that parts of (raw) data produced

by the National Statistical Service could be in the future quickly and easily

available to research centres before being published.

5.5 Victim Surveys and Self-report Delinquency Studies

In the present context, the interest lies not only on official crime and

recidivism rates stemming from the criminal justice "system" but also on

additional or alternative sources of data like the victimization and self-

report crime and delinquency studies. If, however, such empirical data are

deemed necessary and useful to supplement crime statistics, their validity

and reliability has to be established on both the national and the inter-

national level. Undoubtedly, a periodic (every two years) repetition of these

surveys is indispensable as well as the broadening of their scope (e.g.

victimization of business, of museums, of EEC fraud etc.). In this arca the

Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice has

pioneered®.

26 See, for instance, J. J. M. van Dijk/P. Mayhew/M. Killias, Experiences of crime across the

eventer, Netherlands, 1990,

World: Key findings of the 1989 International Crime survey,

also J. J. M. van Dijk/P. Mayhew, Criminal victimization in the Industrialized World.

84

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

In Greece it appears that no much change may be expected in the near

future in the use of alternative sources and methods of data collection.

Researchers, however, have already started collecting information on crime

from additional sources. Perhaps, the time has come to consider police

crime statistics as one of the sources of crime-reporting. Customs Authori-

ties and Naval Authorities could be compelled to submit their statistics to

the National Statistical Service in order to include this information in the

volume "Statistics of Justice". These statistics would involve custom’s viola-

tions, currency violations or drugs and arms trafficking via the sea (cross-

boarder crime). Moreover, the Ministry of Environment and City Planning

should also systematize its own statistical information on environmental

crime and submit it to the National Statistical Service for the same purpose.

Furthermore, data on individuals on bail or on "conditional release without

bail" should be collected in order to give a more accurate picture of pre-

trial detention. Data on recidivism should be enriched by statistics on

parole and probation violations. For certain types of crimes, e.g. domestic

violence, hospital records or private doctors report may be useful. The

same is true for statistics provided by Insurance companies with respect to

car thefts.

As far as victim surveys are concerned in Greece only one preliminary

victim survey has been conducted” and government funds have to be

allocated in this area for further similar studies. Moreover, at least four

self-report delinquency studies have been relatively recently conducted.

Their scope however differs: Two of them focus on small samples and on

delinquent behaviour®, one of them on a large national sample but it is

centred on drugs and other substances and the last one deals with delin-

quency in various schools of the country.

Obviously, if victim surveys and self report delinquency are to be used

as supplementary source of crime statistics in Greece, they have to be

27 C.D. Spinellis/A. Chaidou/T. Serassis, "Victim Theory and Research in Greece", in Kai-

ser/Kury/Albrecht (eds.), Victims and Criminal Justice, Freiburg i. Br. 1991, pp. 125-128.

28 See C. D. Spinellis/E. Apospori/M. Kranidioti/P. Symiyianni/K. Angelopoulou, Key

findin

of a preliminary self-report Delinquency study in Greece: A Contribution to the

1992

fht

ernational Study on Self Report Delinquency, 1993 [to be published], where

relevant bibliography exists.

Greek Crime Statistics

85

systematized and to be conducted on a national basis periodically. Needless

to add, that primary source of crime statistics is the criminal justice

"system". However, the other sources mentioned above are also useful but

they cannot substitute official data at present.

5.6 International Comparability and Compatibility

International comparability and compatibility of crime statistics are

challenging enterprises but they strike against numerous problems. Crime

definitions, methods and ways of collection, processing, analysis and presen-

tation of data vary from country to country.

The United Nations Crime Surveys are examples of meeting certain of

these problems®”. Moreover, the Council of Europe, on the theoretical

n30

level, held a discussion on "Means of Improving Information on Crime

H

and on the practical, an effort is made

i)

to publish a report on criminal justice statistics™, and

11)

to ameliorate the European prison statistics through the project

S.P.A.C.E.”. More specifically, the problem of definition of crimes is

approached through broad classification of offences (e.g. offences

causing death or injury, sexual offences, theft, robbery, damage to pro-

perty, offences of fraud and cheating etc.)”.

On the other hand, the Nordic countries suggest two methods of compi-

lation of international data. The first method starts with an enquiry into

comparability of legal definitions of crime in various countries, which is

followed by an enquiry into comparability of the equivalent statistical

29 P. Tornudd in Heuni, Course on United Nations Criminal Justice Policy, Helsinki 1985,

p. 132.

30 Council of Europe, Means of Improving Information, op. cit.

31 Personal communication with M. Killias on a "European Source-Book of Criminal Justice

data",

32 Counseil de I' Europe, Conseil de cooperation penologique, "Statistiques Penales Annu-

elles du Conseil de I' Europe" (Project S.P.A.C.E.), 1992.

33 C. M. Glinnie, op. cit., p. 44.

86

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

definitions. The second, starts with the search through statistical publica-

tions for those types of offences which appear to be comparable. The legal

rules and statistical procedures applied in each country are documented

and the final assessment of comparability is left to the user of statistics. The

latter method in practice has been proved to be the only effective one™.

This means that, if the ideal of absolute compatibility is left aside, there is

hope for compiling and comparing international data. In any case, such a

hope may find support to contemporary critical contributions in the field

of Criminology®.

Crime categories and some individual offences appear in a consistent

form in the Greek statistics and problems of continuity” do not arise with

respect to the last twenty years (see 1.) Hence, Greek data comparison with

international data, according to the second method, should not be difficult.

It should be though impossible to compile all data deriving from the various

systems of justice. A prerequisite would be a choice of offences, similar to

the choices of the Scandinavian project”’.

Additionally, it should be mentioned that the Greek penal legislation is

not that different from other European countries’ relevant legislation (e.g.

provisions for theft, robbery, drug trafficking etc.). Therefore, it is expected

that problems of congruence® with respect to international comparisons

will not be ensurmountable.

Nordic Statistics, op. cit. p. 5.

35

See Leavitt G.C., "Relativism and Cross Cultural Criminology: A Critical Approach",

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, v. 27, 1990, pp. 5 ff. and

agg, 1"

Context and Linkage. Reflections on Comparative Research and Internationalism in

Criminology" British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 33, 1993, pp. 541 ff.

36

Continuity concerns questions of whether an individual time series (for example, registe-

red robberies in country A) reflects the same legal and statistical content at all points of

measurement and how possible changes will be perceived (Nordic Statistics, op. cit.,

p. 13).

37

The choice has been made after Interpol’s International Crime Statistics. Basic liberties

were taken with the intended offence definitions. The overall goal was to choose as well

defined categories as possible (op. cit., p. 8).

38

Congruence concerns the question of whether the data being analysed from each country

are comparable (op. cit., p. 13).

Greek Crime Statistics

87

6. Speculations on the Potential of Greek Statistics

Criminologists in Europe as well as in other parts of the world share

some common fate. Official statistics have gone through a severe critique

and research has often relied on fragmentary information. Therefore,

problems arising with respect to Greek crime statistics are not unique and

the reader may find similarities regarding difficulties he/she faces in his/her

realm of work. Besides the already discussed problems it should be men-

tioned that there is lack of information in the statistics on very important

issues like the economic and social cost of crime. One may assume that

such information is almost non-existent in other countries’ statistics, as well.

However, the Greek user of statistics, being a researcher, a politician or

a journalist, could speculate on some improvement of official data, particu-

larly in the area of police statistics. Police forces®, have already enriched

their data with information on victims of certain offences. Additionally, in

the light of technological developments, new techniques which would

ensure the accuracy and completeness of evidence on crime could be

employed by the police” in order to increase clearance rates. Yet,

improvement in collecting and presenting data should be accompanied by

changes in the criminal justice "system" and in financing policies. Besides

that, formulating concrete suggestions on improving information on crime

and on applying new techniques requires assiduous study of the systems’

operation and relevant research which is presently lacking in Greece due

to limited economic resources.

On the other hand, a more optimistic view would lead to speculations

that set aside concrete problems of crime statistics. Greece is a relatively

39 The FBI is preparing to implement some important changes in the Uniform Crime

Reports. These changes involve an attempt on gathering more detailed information on

individual criminal incidents. Some departments will provide detailed reports on 23 crime

patterns, including incident, victim and offender information. This will allow a national

data base on the nature of crime, victims and criminals to be developed. Moreover, the

definitions of many crimes will be revised. For instance, rape will be defined in neutral

terms (Siegel, op. cit., pp. 72-73.). Such a new definition of rape is already provided by

the law in Greece since 1984 (law 1419/84).

40

Stringent auditing techniques, such as those to be implemented for the Uniform Crime

Reports (Siegel, op. cit., p. 73.).

88

Calliope D. Spinellis and Maria Kranidioti

small and homogeneous European country. In principle, it could be sur-

veyed easily compared to other countries which are larger and have a

federalist structure. Contemporary developments on information technology

and especially international cooperation and potential assistance by

technical advisors from the United Nations leave some hope that in the

future, positive changes might materialize in the area of crime statistics.

Such changes, among other, should give the possibility of collecting,

processing, analysing and presenting data on crime in a uniform way from

the following sources of the criminal justice "system": The police, the

procecutors, Judicial Councils, Courts and Custodial Institutions. The

uniform way of collection of data from all these sources should allow

observations of most of the flows from the criminal justice "system".

Brief Review

on the Situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

Sandor Erdosi

With this study my intention is to give a short review on the situation of

the Hungarian criminal statistics especially on the statistical system I myself

are working in. During the preparation of the International Congress in

Budapest the organizers of the workshop asked the lecturers to concentrate

in their contributions on some main questions. First of all I would like to

give brief answers to these questions. After that, I will complement the

short answers with comments with which my ambition is to refine the

picture on the situation and give some motives relating to development

ideas.

The Questions and Short Answers

a) Q

Are there any statistics covering the whole area of police and

criminal justice in the respective countries?

At present, no integrated crime statistics system exists in Hungary

which reflects the process of jurisdiction in a wider sense by the

help of a common system of terminologies and data-processing

procedures.

b) Q

Are there any partial statistics, and if so how are they connected?

Are they compatible?

Hungarian law enforcement agencies, courts and penal authorities

operate their own statistics systems which are independent and

incompatible. An additional statistics system relating to minor

offences attaches to these three sub-systems of the official

90

Sdndor Erdosi

statistics. In addition to and in completion of the official statistics

(or statistical sub-systems) data collections of scientific purpose are

performed aiming at the disclosure of the regularities of latent

crime and victimization.

c) Q

What can be said about reliability and value of data of statistics?

The inner validity and reliability of the statistics systems mentioned

can be evaluated as good in general.

d) Q

What will be the future developments regarding survey modes and

computerization of data collection and evaluation? How can the

availability of the data be improved?

From the point of view of information technology the sub-systems

of the Hungarian Crime Statistics are of different level.

e) Q

How far can official statistics in future be replaced or

complemented by victim surveys and microcensus?

Under the circumstances available in Hungary victimology surveys

can have only a supplementary role beside the official crime

statistics.

f) Q

Is it possible to establish international comparability/compatibility

of national statistics?

We, from Hungarian side, also hold the development of a crime

statistics system as desirable which would allow international - and

mainly European - comparisons.

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

91

Comments

1. To the question of integrated Crime Statistics (ad a, b)

Relating to the question of integration it seems to be worth while

differentiating between two trends of the development of crime statistics:

one is the completeness of the measuring system and the other is the ability

to reflect the complex law enforcement/jurisdiction process. The two

directions of the development are motivated by diverging interests.

The institutions responsible for the different phases of law enforcement

and jurisdiction are interested first of all in particularizing data-circles

connected to their own functions; a higher (whole society/nation-wide)

interest, however, would need a picture about the characteristics of the

whole process and its mode of operation be it harmonic or disharmonic.

The rapid increase in crime has made this diverging trend obvious. Parallel

with the increase in crime the demand for related information has also

increased and information connections between institutions separated on

the basis of the principle of the division of power have become more

valuable.

Recently one of the eminent home experts of the topic has written the

following: "Until 1952 one of the organizational units with the biggest

personnel was the one called then jurisdictional statistics. This responsibility

was delegated at the time of the decentralisation of the judicial statistics

partly to the Ministry of the Interior, partly to the Ministry of Justice and

partly to the Prosecution. Since then, there is no adequate information on

the jurisdictional process as a whole. (...) The judicial statistics was split

between organizations."

Part of the truth is, at the same time, that the most remarkable progress

in the history of the home crime statistics until now was reached just about

1

Kovacsics, J.: The role of statistics in the state administration and jurisdiction after the

change of the political system

|

A statisztika szerepe a rendszervéltozds utdn az dllami-

gazgatdsban és az igazsdgszolgdltatdsban) - Magyar Kozigazgatds, 1993. No. 2 .p. 78.

92

Sandor Erdosi

a decade after the date indicated. It was at that time namely, that the

authorities accepted the existence of criminology and the so called

Hungarian Unified Police and Prosecution Crime Statistics (HUPPCS) was

introduced. This system obtained its present form after long professional

debates and is standing in the cross-fire of debates also today.

An important characteristic of the system is that it takes note of and

classifies the reported crimes according to the bearing of a case contained

in the prevailing Criminal Code. It has four basic observational units:

(1) reported crimes, (2) suspected persons, (3) criminal proceedings, and

(4) injured organizations or persons.

Beside the other observational units mentioned the HUPPCS contains

- among the firsts also on a world scale - the natural persons among the

victims of crimes as well.? But we are not satisfied with this yet. We attach

great importance to the victimological aspect of crime, therefore we intend

to expand the data-circle relating to the victims during the next

development process.

The establishment of the HUPPCS - beside the enforcement of the

criminological approach - was an important step forward to the integration

of crime statistics. With the (re)unification of both independent systems of

the police and the prosecution, much unnecessary parallelism could be

abolished.?

The integration - which started - became short after the introduction of

the HUPPCS an item on the agenda and several working committees of

different level dealt with it. The process, however, remained unfinished and

this statistical system does, as indicated, include neither crimes judged by

courts and the convicted persons nor the execution of sentences imposed.

2 T6th, T:: Contribution to a scientific seminar under the title: "Current questions of the

development of home affairs informatics" (Hozzdszdlds "A beliigyi informatika fejlesztésé-

nek aktudlis kérdései" cim tudomdnyuos szemindriumon) - BM. Adatfeldolgoz6 Szolgdlat

1990. (manuscript)

Kovacsicsné Nagy, K.: The perspectives of the unified criminal information system (Az

egységes blniigyi informdcids rendszer perspektivdi) - Beliigyi Szemle, 1987. No. 10. p. 41.

93

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

The rocketing increase in crime - which coincided with the process of

the change of the political system - took up again the question of

streamlining crime statistics. In the present debates two standpoints are

outlined. According to the first, the police is under a constant pressure of

performance and therefore it needs up-to-date information on the

development of crime on the basis of which it can "measure" and improve

the efficiency of law enforcement activity. Apparently, this requirecment

could be met by making police statistics anew independent.

Actually, at this point the question arises if it is admissible in criminal

statistics to prefer the requirement of up-to-dateness to the principle of

legality. Present information technology gives almost unlimited possibilities

to ensure for crime statistics to meet the requirement of up-to-dateness.

Crime statistics, however, can only fulfil its original function if it meets also

the criteria of legality.

Legality is, of course, not an inherent requirement of crime statistics but

also one of the cardinal principles of criminal jurisdiction. Following from

its object, however, outer validity of crime statistics depends exactly on the

fact in what degree judicial practice itself meets the requirements of legality

in the given country.*

One of the fundamental characteristics of criminal statistics systems is

to what degree they are able to establish a balance between the

requirements of up-to-dateness and legality by the help of practical

compromises. The antagonism between these two requirements cannot be

dissolved theoretically. In theoretical sense, the difficulties of establishing

integrated criminal statistics systems arise from this. To introduce anew an

independent police crime statistics would mean just the giving up of this

balance and the preferring of the principle of up-to-dateness.

4 This statement holds truc only if one supposes a legitimate legal system. The examination

of the legitimacy of the (criminal) law belongs, however, to the field of law sociology, or

in a narrower sense, of the criminal sociology.

94

Sandor Erdosi

This solution would, in our opinion, mean a retreat because - although

it is true that the supervisional and legal guarantor role of the prosecution

would prevail in the actual proceedings but the data from the independent

police statistics would not go through this filter. Consequently, three types

of crime statistics would circulate simultaneously: police, prosecution and

court crime statistics, so different criminal statistics would overlap without

determined contour as a picture on tv-screen tuned in badly.

According to the other standpoint, the integration of the crime statistics

systems yet separated should proceed. This solution would have several

advantages at which only a hint can be made here. Not only would it give

a more comprehensive view about crime and jurisdiction but it would

abolish further overlapping and make for example measuring the

organizations possible.

The efforts for integration must be brought, however, into harmony with

the requirements of a constitutional state. Earlier the experts conceived the

establishment of an integrated crime statistics - or more accurately - crime

informatics system by connecting the data files of the registers of the

police/prosecution, the court, the penal authorities and the criminal registry.

But this is limited by the principle of the separation of the branches of

power and the protection of personal data. The Statistical Bill passed

recently by the Hungarian Parliament prohibits the transfer/acceptance of

individual data and permits the link of data files only within the same

organization. The question arises whether the organizations of law

enforcement and jurisdiction can be considered as organs with the same

functionality.

It is obvious that the integration conceptions should be thought over

systematically in the light of the requirements of a constitutional state. We

think that a coordinated development based on a carefully weighed plan

would make an integration to a greater degree possible than today without

violating legal guarantees. The real question is which interest will prove to

be stronger: the separated organizational interests (the adherence to the

usual, or traditional) or the common interest of restraining and repression

of crime.

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

95

2. To reliability and validity of data (ad c)

It is very difficult to give short answer to the question relating to validity

and reliability. The answer requires namely different approaches depending

on the fact whether we refer the question to the whole system, one of the

sub-systems or its variables. It can be here advert only to some general

questions.

ca.) The Hungarian criminal statistics is also criticised mostly because

it cannot give a picture about latent crime. The proportion (of the totality

or different parts) of the crime become known and latent crime is the

archetopic of criminology which the Hungarian criminal statistics could not

solve until now, either. The last developments of criminal movement make

this question especially topical today in Hungary.

A new phenomenon of Hungarian crime is that the increase in the

number of known delicts practically stopped in 1992, and began to decrease

in the last half-year. In the first half-year of 1993 the number of crimes

become known decreased by 7%, the number of offenders become known

by 9%, the number of injured become known by 14% and last the number

of crime cases decreased by about 16% where police concluded

investigation as compared to similar period of last year.

Two further circumstances are worth special attention in connection with

this. First is, that the decrease in the numbers of delicts has begun not in

the last half-year. (See to this Figure 1.) It emerges clearly from the quarter

time-series that crime become known was in a descending line already in

1992. But it was then concealed by the aggregation of data on year level

and its comparison with 1991 data which represented the end of an

ascending line. The second is, that the HUPPCS record violations of norms

at the closing of investigations, that is, these crimes were committed in

periods before their becoming known. From this, the consequence follows

that the Hungarian crime wave broke already in 1991. All this should be

taken into account as one of the fundamental facts of Hungarian crime and

law enforcement.

96

Sandor Erdosi

It is unfavourable, however, that it is rather difficult for professional

public opinion to take notice of statistical data relating to the decrease of

known crime. What could be the reason for this? I believe the reason for

this is, on the one hand, an uncertainty about probable development of

crime trend and on the other hand doubts concerning the validity of the

data of crime statistics.

Prognosis of crime would mean practically a forecast of social, economic

and political conditions which determine crime. Today, however, branches

of science and political programs dealing with this undertake, at best, to

outline heuristic scenarios. It is a fact that the moderately decreasing trend

of crime become known for law enforcement agencies lasts for at least one

and a half year. In spite of this no grounded answer can be given today to

the question if in the near future further increase, stagnation or decrease

of crime should be reckoned with.

If, remaining strictly within the circle of linear statistical extrapolation,

we wish to give a forecast on the probable number of crimes becoming

known, then (1) we should decide whether we choose the streching out of

a more lasting but more unfavourable or a shorter but more favourable

trend and (2) we should take into consideration seasonal fluctuations in

both cases.

Regarding the above mentioned, we have made two versions on the

extrapolation of the number of crimes becoming known every quarter: with

stretching out of the trend of fact-data

M

in an optimistic version for the period between I. quarter of 1991

and IV. quarter of 1992 and

)

in a pessimistic version for the period between 1. quarter of 1988

and IV. quarter of 1992.

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

97

Figure 1.: Number of crimes become known in some quarters between

1988 and 1992, and its linear extrapolation from the first quarter of 1993

(on the basis of additiv seasonal model)

Figure 1 shows the probable values of the number of crimes becoming

known every quarter on the basis of both types of linear extrapolation. In

both cases trends forecasted were corrected with seasonal deviations

(calculated on the basis of an additive model). The number of crimes

become actually known in the first quarter of ’93 was lower by 8% than it

was expectable on the basis of the pessimistic extrapolation (122.512) and

exceeded by 3% the value extrapolated optimistically (109.203). Crime

become known in the second quarter, however, remained below by 25% of

the volume indicated for this period on the basis of optimistic extrapolation

(130.851). So from quantitative point of view, crime become known took

shape in the first quarter of 1993 on a level between optimistic and

pessimistic estimation and in the second quarter on a level well under the

optimistic estimation.

These data can be explained from different aspects in different ways.

From statistical point of view, however, it is not only the increasing pace of

crime which has broken, it is not the stagnation of crime’s volume but it is

a definite decline. The question relating to the development of crime in our

days is also not whether increase has continued in the last one and a half

year but the one: how long can decrease in the volume of crime last. It

would be naturally carly to speak of the formation of a new trend line or

"decreasing path". It seems to be possible rather that decrease experienced

since one and a half year will stop in the near future and the volume of

crime will become stable on a lower level as compared to that at the turn

of the decade.

I think that both research workers and leading experts of law

enforcement should pay greater attention to these data. If data are valid,

therefore, if not, then therefore. These data refer namely to the part of

crime become known for the authorities and they are not conform with the

perception of the public about crime and the press coverage of crime.

98

Sdndor Erdési

It can be declared of the official crime statistics system of a given

country that it reflects the state of real crime if law enforcement agencies

operating in that country are informed about the activities violating penal

norms. In the contrary case, namely, statistics give a picture not about the

activities which violate prevailing legal norms and its offenders but only

about the information of the organs of law enforcement and criminal

jurisdiction relating to this. Criminal statistics, as one of the indirect means

of social knowledge is, in itself, not destined for and not able, either, to

give compensation for deficiencies in this field.

It is partly the reason why some of our experts suppose that the

(perhaps temporary) stagnation or decrease of known crime does not

reflect the culmination of actual crime. It is possible namely, that merely

the rate of latency has increased. This supposition contradicts criminology

experiences relating to the relative constancy of latency-rates, still it cannot

be excluded in advance.

There are namely two possibilities. One is that latency-rates did not

change significantly in the period under review. In this case criminal

statistics give a reliable indication about the decrease of the volume of both

crime become known and actual crime. The question remains, however,

where is the threshold value of difference at which this decrease can be

perceived also by public opinion.

The other possibility is that latency-rates have grown significantly in the

past few years. In this case, present criminal statistics indicate only the

decrease in crime become known reliably but do not reflect stagnation or

increase in the actual volume of crime. The reason behind this should not,

however, looked for in the reliability of statistical methods but in the fact

that an increasing part of the actually committed crimes does not come to

the notice of law enforcement agencies.

One of the conditions of the choosing of a successful law enforcement

strategy would be, therefore, the methodological tracing of the changes in

the latency-rates. This strategy should be directed, namely, in the first case

towards the stabilization of the state reached, in the second, however,

99

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

towards the reduction of the increasing latency; especially that the increase

of latency has in itself a stimulating impact on crime.

Possibility of increase in latency would deserve additional greater

attention because the reasons behind this can be - among others - (1) the

adjustment of the population to a higher risk level and (2) the so called

selection on the part of the authorities. I think it is not necessary to stress

that in both cases greater attention should be paid to the connections

between law enforcement agencies - first of all the police - and the

citizenry.

¢b.) As second, a deforming impact deserves attention which is, in my

opinion, in connection with the reliability of the data of the HUPPCS. The

direction of this impact is just in contradiction with what changing rate of

latency can exercise on the validity of crime statistics data. One of the

functions of the Hungarian criminal statistics is, namely, to provide data to

the measurement of the workload and success of the police authorities. As

a consequence, some local authorities tend to give a more favourable

picture about their practices.

I have to note that efforts have been made in Hungary for a longer time

to measure efficiency of police work but no special measuring system exists,

such as the PPPM (Police Program Performance Measures), for instance,

proposed by O’Neill W., Needle J. A. and Galvin R. T. in 1980.° Therefore

police leadership uses - among others - statistical data of the HUPPCS for

this purpose. Naturally we themselves do not hold this as absolutely

adequate and know professional doubts arisen in connection with this

elsewhere.’

The mentioned effect to the opposite direction is in connection with the

measurement of efficiency of police authorities - and within this - the

S O'Neill, M. W. - Needle, J. A. - Galvin R. T:: Appraising the performance of police

agencies: the PPPM system - Journal of Police Science & Admin., 1980. No. 3.

6

See for instance reference of Walker to the inflation of different efficiency indexes.

Walker, M. A.: Do we need a clear-up rate? - Policing & Society, 1992. No. 2/4.

pp. 293-306.

100

Sandor Erdosi

application of the so called omissions of investigation. As to the omissions

of investigation, under our national regulations, investigative authorities may

apply omission of investigation if in the same case investigation extends to

other more important crime(s) as well as compared to which crimes with

omissions are of no significance from the point of view of impeachment.

Since 1988 omissions of investigation were calculated as successful

investigations. After the transformation of the evaluation system then, their

number continuously increased from year to year.

Figure 2: Number of proceedings ended with omission of investigation

between first half years 1988 and 1993

As a consequence of mass occurrence which was to be observed from

January until March this year, they constituted a share in relevant

investigations which deformed figures on the efficiency of police

proceedings. In order to eliminate this deformation, from the first half-year

of this year on, when calculating efficiency indexes - both at numerator and

denominator - proceedings closed with omissions of investigation are

disregarded. Naturally there are debates concerning all this within local

(county level) police authorities but correction was made with the support

of the Chief of the National Police. As a consequence of modification,

efficiency indexes of the police became naturally lower by some per cent

(efficiency of investigation by 6%, clear-up index by 9%) and a more

moderate increase is to be seen in the efficiency as compared to previous

periods. We think, however, that corrected indexes are nearer to reality

than the previous ones.

Figure 3: Investigation efficiency index (left) and clear-up index (right)

together with omissions of investigation and calculated in a corrected way

between January and June 1993

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

101

The example of the omissions of investigations shows, in my view, what

dangers it contains if official statistics are used not only for getting to know

the crime situation and criminal movement in a country but at the same

time for the measurement of the successfullness of police organs. In our

national relations we cannot meet this demand by the help of other means

yet. According to our experiences, however, effects of this increase rather

than decrease the volume of known crime.

Purely from statistical point of view this is possible because (at least the

Hungarian) crime statistics handle crimes of different weight, that is serious

crimes and bagatelle offences, together. This makes it possible for

investigators with more ambition than the average to carry on paper or

magnetic data carrier investigations or omit them in petty offences. The

essence of the problem is here, however, also not of statistical character.

The question is actually, how should law enforcement and criminal

jurisdiction handle the more serious and less serious forms of crime during

a crime boom which has been characteristic of Hungary in the last years

and is also today. The competency of statistics is limited to the prevention

of the deforming impacts similar to the above mentioned by the help of

control of data-supply.

I can only mention in this study questions, like: whether weighting of

crimes would be necessary?; if this weighting could be completed in an

overall crime statistics?; if the weights themselves should be established on

an empirical or axiological basis? and how a weighting like this would react

upon criminal political practice?

cc.) At the examination of the time changes of crime the frequent

modifications of criminal laws and sentencing practice - compared to the

international practice - cause great difficulties. As a result, temporary

fluctuations and lasting changes occur in the volume of (some sectors) of

known crime. In factual analyses temporary increases or decreases can be

102

Sandor Erdosi

smoothed by the separation of formal and material factors which evoke

fluctuations.’

The filtering out of longer - sometimes decennial - cyclical effects is a

harder task. The alternations of the sentencing practice between restricting

and expanding interpretation of cumulativity are the examples for this.

According to some presumptions the number of the registered violations

of law is about 10% higher than the number of actual (material) violations

of law as a consequence of the sentencing practice.®

Apart from the fact that this presumption awakens some natural law

reminiscences it is hardly controllable. The parallel classification of the law

violating acts according to a set of norms supposed unchanged would,

namely, require the doubling of the activity statistics at the least which is

hard to execute. An international criminal code would give, however, a

good base of comparison for the filtering out of similar turbulencies.

cd.) Finally it should be mentioned relating to the question of accuracy

that no important deformations of political purpose have been made in

crime statistics in the last 2 - 3 decades. The characteristic of the past state

socialist system manifested itself rather in the application of the criminal

law as indirect means of politics.

3. To information technology (ad d)

Data-processing in all the three sub-systems mentioned is executed by

computers: at the investigative authorities and the courts on mainframe and

at the penal authorities in a PC environment.

7 Kovacsicsné Nagy, K.: Measurement of the effects of the modifications of statutory

rovisions in crime time-series (A jogszabdlymédositdsok hatdsdnak mérése a binozési

idOsorokban) - Beliigyi Szemle 1982. No. 9. pp. 32-41.

Rozsa, J.: Development of crime from the standpoint of the statistician (A bnozés

alakuldsa a statisztikus nézOpontjdbdl) - In: Studies on social adjustment problems,

Kossuth 1988, pp. 94-118.

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

103

The sub-system operated by the Ministry of the Interior and the Police

can be considered the relatively most sophisticated one. In this system data

processing has been performed centrally by electronic computers from the

very beginning. At present, adequate hardware and software conditions are

available for the county authorities for the processing of their own data.

For the sake of supervision and information of the state management we

wish to maintain central data-processing. For this, a software is available

which was prepared 10 - 15 years ago. This program cannot, however, cope

with increased demand. Therefore we plan to lease a fourth-generation

statistical

or

information management software system by which

applications can be developed for use both in mainframe environment and

at the workstations of the local area networks connecting to the mainframe.

Data are entered decentrally by the informatics departments of local

police authorities. The development of a nation-wide area network is near

completition. It make yet possible for data entered to be transferred on

line. Moreover this network make possible for the workstations installed at

the central and local law enforcement agencies to access to the data-bases

containing the results of the nation-wide data-processing. At present, about

100 workstations or rather local arca networks are operating from where

the users can get the results of the monthly processings within 10 days.

4. To alternative measures (ad e)

The Hungarian criminal statistics - which can be now called traditional -

measures the known crime totally. Consequently the objective of victimology

survey can be - in addition to the examination of the phenomenon of vic-

timization - indirectly the assessment of the degree of latent crime. This

would be very important from several points of view.

Systematical surveys would be necessary by applying adequate methods

suitable for learning possible changes in latency-rates. I note at this point

that valuable victimology surveys have been and are carried out in Hungary

but not usually and often enough. Therefore we do not have victimology

104

Sandor Erdési

time-series which could verificate or falsificate the assumption on the

increase in latency.

For lack of registration and verification, victimological surveys can

undertake only assessments. The alternative of a survey of a few thousand

and a microcensus is, from this point of view, a technical or financial

question. A microcensus carried out as part of the official statistics would

guarantee a smaller rate of those refusing answer.

5. To international developments (ad f)

We deem the establishment of a compatible international crime statistics

system possible only on the middle term, mainly because of the differences

in the legal systems (nomenclatures) and the lack of institutional/organi-

zational conditions. Hungary is interested, at the same time, in the success

of the initiative aiming at the harmonization of the national statistics

systems and the establishment of a joint data-base. Therefore we are

prepared to take part in the exchange of experiences and ideas and to

contribute to the activity of a preparatory expert committee.

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

105

Thousand

200

A

A

150 —

100~ --------

o

50 —

— Become known

4 Optim. estimate

A Pessim. eslimate

* Fact -

I-1l. 9. 1993

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

I

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

—

1929 39 49 19 29 3q 49 19 29 39 4q 19 29 3q 49 19 2q 3q 49 1q 29 39 4q 1q 2q 3q 4q

1988

1989

|

|

1990

|

1991

|

1992

|

1993

l

1994

Sdndor Erdési

106

30000 q

”

6

25000

A

Y/

20000 —: .

S 2

15000 =

i

10000 3|

g

g

3

5000

o

oP

\Q@ >

\q% \‘5@

2

&

Ky

’\q‘b

\q& @&

K

o>

O

>

X

o

Brief Review on the situation of the Hungarian Crime Statistics

107

%

100.0

it

90.0

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0 1

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

;Without omission | 43.2

44.7

52.7

48.3

51.2

62.0

Together w. omis. []| 43.8

52.6

68.9

49.4

52.5

63.3

108

Sdndor Erdési

%

100.0

M without omissions

K

it

Together w. omis

90.0

80.0 1

:

70.0

60.0

50.0

3 .

A

40.0 1

......... A e 5 P e o

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Without omissions

31.7

30.8

43.7

38.0

38.7

48.1

Together w. omis.

32.7

43.2

66.0

39.7

40.7

50.5

Statistical Data Collections on Crime

and Criminal Justice in ltaly

Armando Caputo

General remarks

Statistical data collections on crime and criminal justice in Italy are

carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). These data

collections record those events violating criminal law which have been

reported to the authorities responsible for social control, as well as in-

cluding some personal characteristics of the persons responsible for these

violations. The main data collections are on

crime;

reported offences;

sentenced persons;

population in custody.

The concepts of real, apparent and legal criminality are present in the

quantitative study of crime.

1. Real criminality is crime which is effectively present in society and

results from the total number of offences committed, whether these have

been reported to the authorities or not (hidden crime);

Apparent criminality includes offences made known to the judicial

bodies regardless of the subsequent steps take, if any;

Legal criminality concerns offences which, having been brought to court,

have resulted in a sentence being pronounced by the judge.

110

Armando Caputo

In general, these data collections focus upon aspects of apparent and

legal criminality given the difficulty in quantifying hidden crime, especially

where no victim is involved. However, ad hoc surveys such as the Multi-

purpose Household Survey carried out by ISTAT are used and the wide

range of social-demographic data in this sample survey enables us to

analyse some aspects of victimisation caused by events which took place in

the twelve-month period prior to the survey and experienced by some

members of the family interviewed. Despite the fact that it provided a

sample estimate only and this only for specific offences against the person

or property, this survey indicated the extent of "hidden" criminality, that is,

unreported offences. During the last phase of this survey (December °89 -

May ’90) it was estimated that 47.0% of criminal events were not reported

to the authorities.

In order to provide a more in-depth analysis of victimisation there are

plans to widen the scope of the Multipurpose Household Survey as well as

that of surveys from administrative sources (concerning reported crime).

In general, although this is not absolutely true, during normal periods

crime surveys can be considered to be at least representative of the reality

being investigated, given the similarity of the trend of offences committed

and offences reported. When analysing the data, one must bear in mind

that the number of crimes reported depends on the efficiency of the police

force and the courts in crime prevention and repression activities as well

as the various criminal laws in force. Also, as the crime figures are based

on the information supplied by the respondents, they depend on the

promptness or otherwise of this information and its completeness.

There are data collections right across the field of criminal justice.

However, the different data source are not directly comparable; different

judicial bodies, police forces, etc. have different counting rules; there are

also varying survey methods and varying data reference times.

In the course of the last ten years, the processing phase for criminal

justice statistics in Italy has been entirely computerised. Changes and

updates are systematically introduced following the frequent changes in the

111

Statistical Data Collections on Crime and Criminal Justice in Italy

law with the aim of highlighting certain topical aspects of crime (foreigners,

minors, etc). The use of magnetic media has been widely developed for the

storage of basic data and the dissemination of the information produced.

The latter is carried out using both the most up-to-date means of

communication (Videotel) and the means of communication reaching the

largest audience (press release).

It is very hard to compare crime surveys internationally, even among

countries with economic and social similarities, due to the considerable

differences in classification and collection criteria, in the criminal laws in

force and in the elficiency of the survey systems.

Reference is frequently made in international comparisons to such

offences as murder, robbery and violence, but other aspects of crime which

are even more dangerous and damaging to democratic society are often

neglected.

Despite these difficulties, joint work between the researchers and

operators in this sector in various countries could make it possible for new

fields of investigation to be developed and could be useful in helping to

define a basic list of major crimes, specifying nature and legal content as far

as possible, and at the same time activating various procedures for close

collaboration in order to reduce the risks of mistakes or misinterpretations.

Measurement of Crime

Time and territorial series regarding crime are generally based on the

monthly ISTAT survey on reported offences for which the judicial

authorities have commenced penal action.

The data concerns violations of the penal code, excluding fines, and the

persons responsible for these violations.

The main unit of study is the reported offence which is analysed

according to type of offence, the date on which and place in which it was

112

Armando Caputo

committed, the source of information and the number of people reported

plus their sex and citizenship.

On the basis of the current criminal procedure code, which came into

force on 24th October 1989, in the case of offences by known offenders,

penal action begins as soon as the Public Prosecutor formulates the charge,

according to Art. 405 of the criminal procedure code, against the person

being investigated. There have been no changes as far as offences by

unknown offenders are concerned, but penal action is considered to have

begun upon registration of the offence in the "Unknown Offenders

Register".

As far as the disaggregation of the offences is concerned, the rule used

for the survey method is that concerning the single items corresponding to

the same number of crime categories foreseen by the Penal Code, as well

as some specific categories foreseen by the main special laws concerning

crime (drugs, arms, smuggling, etc). Although useful for special study pur-

poses, this classification, called "analytical classification" by ISTAT, is too

large for practical purposes. For this reason a "reduced classification" of

offences is adopted in ISTAT publications, grouping the single items in

groups and sub-groups.

Offences

Reduced Classification

Against the Person

Against life

Massacre

Murder

Attempted murder

Infanticide

Manslaughter (voluntary)

Manslaughter (involuntary)

Against personal safety and freedom

Assault and battery

Deliberate personal injuries

Involuntary personal injuries

Brawls, etc

Violence, threats, etc.

Abuse and slander

113

Statistical Data Collections on Crime and Criminal Justice in Italy

Against the Family, Public Morality and Decency

Against the family

Failure to pay maintenance

Ill-treatment within the family

Bigamy, incest, etc.

Against public morality and decency

Rape

Indecent assault

Indecent behaviour

Corruption of minors, etc.

Instigation and exploitation of prostitution

Illegal abortion

Against Property

Larcenies

Theft

Burglary

Robbery, extortion and kidnapping

Robbery

Extortion

Kidnapping

Damage to objects, animals, land, etc.

Swindling and other fraud

Swindling

Embezzlement

Receiving of stolen goods or property

Fraudulent insolvency, etc.

Against the Economy and Public Trust

Against public economy, industry and trade

Trade fraud, etc.

Sale of non-genuine food

Arbitrary entry into companies, etc.

Bankruptcy

Issue of dud cheques

Against public safety

Illegal drug manufacture and dealing

Against public trust

Counterfeiting of money

Counterfeiting of seals

False impersonation

114

Armando Caputo

Against the State, Other Social Institutions and Public Order

Against the image of the state

Against the public administration

Assault, resisting and insulting public official

Peculation, embezzlement, etc.

Failure to fulfil official duties, etc.

Against the administration of justice

Against religious feeling, etc.

Against public order

Other Offences

Other ISTAT Data Collections

In addition to the above-described survey of reported offences for which

penal action has commenced, a further source of statistical information in

this field is the ISTAT data collection on reported offences carried out with

the help of the police forces and together with the Ministry of the Interior.

This data collection concerns offences reported to the judicial authorities

by the State Police, the Carabinieri, the Guardia di Finanza, and, unlike the

data collection on crime, does not include offences which have directly

reached the judicial authorities by other means (private, public officials or

civil servants not forming part of the police force, judiciary, etc.) while

including those offences, which, although reported, do not lead to penal

action.

The two data collections not only differ in their source but also with

respect to the moment when the offence is registered, in as far as penal

action may begin some time after the offence is reported. It becomes clear

that despite the essential differences between these data collections, a

suitable comparison of the data contained in them could provide interesting

conclusions which would not otherwise be available if data from a single

source were considered.

A further data collection carried out by ISTAT in the field of crime is

that on sentenced persons which concerns persons convicted or acquitted

in a given period following a final judgement resulting in a sentence.

115

Statistical Data Collections on Crime and Criminal Justice in Italy

This collection provides a number of interesting variables concerning the

person being tried (age, marital status, education, professional status, etc.)

not taken into consideration in other data collection, and which are widely

used for the carrying out of more in-depth studies of crime from a social

point of view.

The phenomenon of crime can also be studied by means of collection

for preventive and penal institutions which study the entry and exit flows

into and out of preventive and penal institutions and the number of

detainees present at the end of every month.

The preventive and penal institutions are divided into the following

categories:

a) Preventive custody institutions

b) Institutions for serving sentences

¢) Institutions for the application of security measures

d) Penal institutions for juveniles.

With some exceptions, accused persons awaiting trial, convicted persons,

detainees, young detainees are assigned to the above-mentioned institutions,

respectively.

Data on the reasons for entry into and exit from these institutions and

the number of prisoners present at the end of each month is supplied to

ISTAT by the preventive and penal institutions, while data relative to

characteristics of the prisoners (e.g. age, sex, citizenship, marital status,

profession) are transmitted to ISTAT by means of magnetic media by the

Penitentiary Administration.

Finally, the Court Surveillance communicates data to ISTAT concerning

alternative measures to imprisonment.

fig

ot

T

7

{

RS

o

0y

2

Bt

9

5

W

o

B

8

o

i

e

i

4

S

s

Nl

i

T

o

740

i

Ty

e

o

g

i

e

5

ol

e

e

5

i

a

o

&

%

=4

i

i

At

ey

A

Li

>

ko)

GE

Wik

)

;

3

%

o

b

o

&

kéd

8

e

X

i

(58

7%

b

i

i

>

5

4

o,

.

P

i

A

Ry

A0

o

b

=

K,

s

4

Ry

e

B

a

a;

.

%30

‘v,

{44

o

e

i

e

e

3&!

i

S

b

gie

i

i

s

i

k

{7

(.3

)

i

L

I

feh

3

MEY

5

‘:‘

i)

2l

e

i

i

=

‘éﬂ

K

{0

;

bed

B

)

o

&

i

i

5

Al

he

2

gy

i

3

Ve

=08

4

2

.’

b

o

s

e

&%

&

bt

B

e

&

Wi

i

L

s

e

e

e

-

k!

£

e

e

L

iE.

S8

v

%

o

4?.‘

ey

B

%

i

s

b

b

s o

b

;

e

e

e

4

i

P

2y

e

i

vl

%

(¥

A

4ehd

5

%

i

i

Garisl

7

ity

i

4

2%

2;-

A

]

&

&

i

oy

5

e

s

e

i

o

g

£

Y

(3

2

g

p

i

v

gk

b

i

i

B

e

el

e

B

A

i

i

P

A

g

i

ol

G

-

.:

)

iy

45

o

&

ok

b

o

e

i

b

<&

Ex

s

0

s

5

s

b,

o

or

o

b

N

o

e

e

el

e

i

£

=)

A

st

S,

o

]

i

¥

SR

e

e

i

*

"

0

b

.

Y

e

2

&

ekl

n

£

£

o

0

o

L

b

L

i

g

e

e

2

e

B

s

¥

)

B

I

e

e

E

e

b

P

b

B

.

£y

1

o

ol

8

"

i

e

iy

i

i

b

[

%{

e

e

i

&

Fa

i

e

.

b

;i

555

3

)

i

A

K

o

o

s

)

i

chun

N2

AR

o

b

I

v

i

(¢

i

et

o

o

R

i

*

s

t.

A

T

e

3

e

hs

g

t

%

i

&

-

i

e

EX

ko

Yk

2

g

f;“‘:

i

RS

e

e

i

o

4

4

(s

ok

i

&

g

b

3

@

b

h

i

et

b

%

%

s

T

o

A

ge

o

o0

S

e

o

i

&

4

i

s

i

it

7

it

gy

i

%

i

o

i

4

i

5

%

%

o

i

X

3

2

i

i

Ty

P

4

B

s

)

Y

o}

o

o

)

i

B

it

50

e

%

:2.‘.

[

bt

\:

b

PNiss

i

s

G4

o

o

o

i

¥

i

i

5

3

v

%

$hs

e

)

o

ooy

3

5

N

i

53

2

i

£

%

i

.

o

i

Ry

oy

e

I

s

Loy

é

%

i

o

t«

S

i

o

i

5

¥

!

e

X

X

i

o

il

i

i

5‘

i

4%

o

i

s

e

i

.

2

5

5. z

e

g

b

el

"

bo i

-

o

)

. }ﬁg

:

i

i

g

Aol

o

5

Jona

Je

4l

A3

i

o}

ey

e

;

.

21

ol

Aio

5

«

o

0

i

gy

di

AR

(&

b

i

e

&

=

i3

S ¥

v

£

o

S

i

i

ey

A

o

!

i

i)

LT

8 hE

4

7%

5

i

B

i

2

i

4l

t‘v,

it

s

i

.v:

k!

R

»

¥

i

o

£

e

(i

e

i

g

i ;:L’im

il

i

i\

0

it

=0

5

A

o

I

ot

4

-

b

&

i

e a

i

;

s

S

5%

Hh

i

o

b

o

ey

ey

hi

i

el

A

il

j?

2

i

o

s

;;

Ak

v

7

AL

X

i

o

5

e

3

s

Py

o

%

=

&

L

i

5

iz

Q;

4

s

:

5%

4

00

i

A

e

e

o

i

%

%

g

b

2

o

5o

6

(]

%

3L

2

4

T

A

i

a4

ok

ok

i

e

i

o

&

is

&

-

P

s

g0

§i

iks

ks

o ?

ey

¥

S

o

i

Hy

iy

Sk

R

o

o

A

? 5

[

e

e

o

o

b

S

5

o

L

gon

b

b

:‘,

5

e

i

s

el

:

:

b

',::

o)

i

ot

5

g

i

i

i

r

%

s

Fon

o

4

i

Wﬁv‘

o

L

4

"

9

3

.

o

st

ar

W

2

L

S

ot

e

i

i

S

i

A

u%

":r;‘

iy

B

o

21

o

i

s

P

s

oo,

i

i

.

4

]

i

2

b

¢

£

b3t

s

e

o

:

e

:

i

o

S

Sk

i

e

B

i

i

ke

é}?':"‘

.

4

e

e

o

et

=

L

R49

&

G

f

A%

&

&

i

B

i

&

e,

i

i

R

e

1

Ay

a0

s

A

0

.

%

b

i

.

i

s

Ju

i

.

:

b

k%

%)

e

Wt

.

e

i

=

i

b

i

i

-

i

i

e

4

i

%

5

rﬂ‘

g

:

%

T

&,

5

i

5

Nak @

.

b

54

-?‘

A

e

Ca

¢ e

w

5§

&

e

&

-{

&)

i

o

v

£

A

ey

&

5

e

A

€5

A

v

e

0

L

s

!

i

Sy

)

¥

k%

g

i

i

2

i

o

gt

e

{3

s

3

P

)

A

i

g

Lot

be

i

e

R

g

i

b

o

e

i

R

1%

v

7

%

it

i

e

i

3

i

c

£

En

w

i

o

e

"

i id

i

o

k2

%

s

4

»

b

o

¥

B

ks

)

(1

i

5

g

B

i

o

5

%

é

§

v

e

v

i

e

g

=

54

:

&

s

i

s

i

g

Y

"

i

s

Y

&

e

N

e

e

e

E

i

2

o

4

&

L

:

.

aie

%

Ty

i

)

W

£

A

&

A

L

i

et

i

s

i

i

EAs

)

N

g

A

..v

(e

i

H

L%

e

.

i

5

E‘;'.

B

b

ey

i

e

i

§

.

o

i

i

e

vy

s

e

4

i

s

o ¢

il

s

B

&

i)

i

5

i

i

b

g

5k

B

&

o

b

L

e

i

B

s

M,

20

%

2,

14

i

Ea

g

z

e

o

b

i

e

o

b

&5

SR

i

%

e

il 0

i

0

0y

r

{,

%

Sat?)

b

i

B

i

£

A

3

Fm

4

t5h

e,

e

<

s

kL

%

o

e

i

iy

ke

e

15

g

at

5

o

o

s

b

s

!

:

7@

A

.

e

i

&

i

e

b

o

T

o

.

et

&

i

7

e

¥4

<

ol

;

7]

n

i

-

i

"

e

0

i

1

o

it

o

e

=

i

aaa)

o

E

.

g

.

1

o

o

e

ik

e

Wi

0

)

&

ey

i

i

e

5

G

pr

i

L)

A%

5

b

st

o

(LR

4

B

S

5

o

&%

i

%

e

i

it

i

i

iy

)

o

’}

it

it

e

i

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in the

Netherlands

Max M. Kommer'

The Netherlands have a long history in compilation and publication of

crime and criminal justice statistics. In fact, the first publications date from

1836 (prison statistics) and 1847 (criminal justice statistics). From the year

1900 on, these statistics have been the responsibility of the Central Bureau

of Statistics (CBS); before that year they were compiled and published by

the Ministry of Justice. Scope, definitions and methods of data-collection

have, of course, changed over the years but long running time series of

basic statistics are available.

In this paper I will describe the present-day situation: coverage,

reliability and validity, availability and foreseeable developments.

Coverage

At present, Dutch crime and criminal justice statistics cover the whole

spectrum from victimization to imprisonment. There are, however, no

statistics that provide an insight in the flow of cases or people through the

criminal justice system: victimization data from the regularly held victim

surveys are not compatible to the reported crime rates from the police

statistics (cf. Geerlof, 1987, p. 32), the number of cleared cases/offenders

from the police statistics is inevitably different from the number of cases

processed by the public prosecutors office and there is no connection

between the court statistics giving the number of unconditional prison

sentences and the prison statistics giving the number of prisoners received.

There is a number of obvious reasons why such an over-all coverage is

1

The author is acting head of the research team on legislation and administration of law

in the Research and Documentation Centre of the

inistry of Justice.

118

Max M. Kommer

absent: victimization, police, prosecution, court and prison statistics are all

produced with different goals, by different sub-departments of the CBS,

and they have different counting units.

The Victim Survey was held bi-annually by the CBS between 1985 and

19892 It refers to sixteen types of crimes (see appendix 1); the sample is

apr. 4.500 persons aged 15 years or older (on a total population of over 14

million in 1993). The 1983 and 1987 Victim Surveys also included items on

civil legal problems encountered by respondents and their recourse (cf.

Huls e.a., 1991) and on offenses committed by the respondents themselves

(cf. Geerlof, 1988). Currently, the Victim Survey has been replaced by the

Justice and Security Survey, which also includes items on civil and

administrative legal problems.

Apart from the national surveys there are two other sources of

information on victimization: local victim surveys and the international

victim survey in which The Netherlands participated from the beginning

(Van Dijk e.a., 1990).

Police statistics are published quarterly, semi-annually and annually.

They cover crimes and misdemeanours that have been reported to or

detected by the municipal and state police or the Royal Marechaussee’.

All police corps® send a monthly report to the CBS, in which they state

among others the number of crimes they registered (broken down into a

large number of categories, see appendix 2), the number of known suspects

and the number of suspects taken into custody (both broken down by sex

and minor/adult).

Statistics regarding the Public Prosecutors and the Courts are published

yearly. They cover all cases dealt with by the Public Prosecutors and/or the

Courts, including those that were reported by non-police investigation

Between 1974 and 1984 the Victim Survey was held yearly by the Research and Documen-

tation Centre (RDC) of the Ministry of Justice.

The Royal Marechaussee is the military police force; it assists the municipal or state

police where and when necessary and it is responsible for border control.

formerly about 165.

Presently 26, of which 25 regional and 1 national (the Royal Marechaussee excluded);

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in The Netherlands

119

departments (for instance the economical offenses investigation department

of the Ministry of Economic affairs and the fiscal fraud unit of the Ministry

of Finance). Data on criminal cases is collected on an individual basis: as

soon as a case is received from the police, the Public Prosecutor’s office

sends an information sheet to the CBS.” These information sheets, which

contain particulars of the offence® and the suspect, are followed by reports

on the disposal of the case: by the Public Prosecutor or the District Court.’

In the event of an appeal, a report on the subsequent disposal(s) is sent to

the CBS by the appropriate Public Prosecutor’s office.

Public Prosecutor and Court statistics cover a large number of items.

Not all possible (cross-)tables are published, but they may be made

available on request. In the publications some tables show a breakdown by

type of offense (see appendix 3); this breakdown differs from the one used

in the police statistics.

Data on misdemeanours and economic offenses are aggregated and

reported quarterly.

Prison statistics were, until recently, based on yearly reports by the apr.

60 penal institutions. These reports covered capacity, staffing and prisoners.

The yearly published Prison Statistics provide information about the type

of detention (remand or prison sentence), population on the first resp. last

day of the year, average population, flow of population as well as

particulars of the prisoners (sex, age-category, provenance).

Nowadays prison statistics are based on individual reports of prisoners

admitted / released.

S A caseis something different from a crime. A crime that is completed by two or more

suspects will result in two or more cases; multiple crimes completed by one suspect may

result in one or more cases.

When a case consists of multiple offenses, only the three most serious ones are mentioned

in the information sheet and subsequent reports.

One case may result in multiple reports, e.g. when a case is transferred from one district’s

Public Prosecutor’s office to another. Multiple reports like these may or may not be

linked or excluded in the official statistics, depending on the nature of the table. On the

other hand, cases may be combined when brought before the judge; in that event, there

will be n-1 reports of the Public Prosecutor’s dealing with the case and 1 report of the

Court’s dealing with the combined cases.

120

Max M. Kommer

Reliability and Validity

Reliability and validity of victim surveys have been extensively discussed

over the years (see e.g. Dijk, 1990); there is no indication that the Dutch

victim survey as conducted by the CBS differs in any respect.

Reliability and validity of the Police, Public Prosecutor, Court and

Prison Statistics are probably not as high as might be understood from the

above description of data collection procedures. Although the CBS takes

a pride in making the data as complete and accurate as possible, using

several audit and cleaning procedures, data quality, at the end of the day,

is in the hand of people within the criminal justice system who may not

always be very motivated in completing the CBS-forms accurately. Over the

past two decades, various statistics could not be published or are known to

be unreliable due to data-quality problems or incompleteness of data: there

are no Prison Statistics over the year 1974, in the early nineties one state

police district refused to send in their reports and Public Prosecutor and

Court Statistics over the year 1992 are probably corrupted as a

consequence of the introduction of an electronic data-processing system in

the Public Prosecutors’ offices, which led to the loss of data on an unknown

but substantial number of cases. In general, however, reliability and validity

of the various statistics may be regarded as being high.

A special type of validity is the usefulness of the statistics / the data they

are based upon for criminological research and policy making. Here,

validity might be considered less than desirable. One important factor is the

usage of a crime typology based on the Penal Code (and other relevant

Acts) rather than a more criminological or criminalistic one; an other is the

impossibility to follow cohorts of cases / defendants through the different

stages of their processing by the criminal justice system (even the Public

Prosecutor and Court statistics, though based on reports that can be linked,

are input and output statistics rather than flow statistics).

Availability

All statistics mentioned here are published by and available from the

Central Bureau of Statistics. Most statistics are only available in Dutch, but

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in The Netherlands

121

selected tables are included in the yearly "Statistical Yearbook of the

Netherlands". Notes and short articles on Dutch crime and criminal justice

statistics appear frequently in the quarterly journal of the CBS "Netherlands

Official Statistics". Currently, police statistics are also available on floppy

disk (cf. Kalleveen, 1992, p. 29). Special selections and/or tables can be

produced for scientific or policy purposes; it is even possible to obtain the

(anonymized) micro-data of the Public Prosecutor and Court statistics.

The department of Statistical Information and Policy Analysis of the

Ministry of Justice makes selected and annotated national and regional

statistics available to policy makers, scientists and the general public.

National and regional statistics regarding crime prevention, victimization

and policing are (also) available from the Directorate for Crime prevention

of the Ministry of Justice; statistics regarding the prison service and

imprisonment are available from the Prison Department of the Ministry of

Justice. The Research and Documentation Centre can play an intermediary

or referring role.

Addresses can be found in appendix 4.

Developments in the Near Future

Over the last few years, efforts have been made to develop modules for

the police and public prosecutors’ electronic dataprocessing systems that

will automate the reporting to the CBS. It may be expected that these

modules will become fully available in the near future. As a result,

reporting will probably be more complete and exact. It may, however, also

lead to the use of definitions that are more cut to the needs of the

respective institutions than those of criminology or policy making.

A development running parallel to the former one is the production of

"production statistics" by the various institutions. Here also the introduction

of EDP plays an important role, as well as accountability and planning and

control needs. This development may lead to a less important role of

official statistics for policy makers, and hence for a (further) reduction of

122

Max M. Kommer

means for the Justice and Security Department of the Central Bureau of

Statistics.

Victim surveys and self-report studies will probably play a role of

growing importance for criminological research as well as policy making.*

They can, however, never replace police, prosecution and court statistics in

so far as these give an insight in the production of the criminal justice

system.

References

Dijk, J. J. M. van, P. Mayhew and M. Kilias: Experiences of Crime across

the World: Key findings of the 1989 international crime survey.

Deventer/Boston, 1990, Kluwer.

Geerlof, J.: Trends in criminality. In: Netherlands Official Statistics, vol. 2,

no. 4 (1987), pp. 32-36.

Geerlof, J.: Self reported delinquency. In: Netherlands Official Statistics,

vol. 3, no. 2 (1988), pp. 51-53.

Huls, F. W. M., J. G. C. Kester and J. Naafs: In: Netherlands Official

Statistics, vol. 6, no. 4 (1991), pp. 44-47.

Kalleveen, P. W. van: Police recorded criminality. In: Netherlands Official

Statistics, vol. 7, no. 3 (1992), pp. 27-29.

8 For example, the RDC plans to run a self-report study aimed at children under 12 years

of age. As they can not be prosecuted under criminal law, their criminal activity is not

visible in the official statistics.

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in The Netherlands

123

Appendix 1

Types of crimes covered in the Dutch national Victim Survey

Bicycle theft

Moped theft

Car theft

Theft from car (exterior)

Theft from car (interior)

Car vandalism

Other vandalism

Theft of purse / wallet

Burglary

Other theft

Sexual harassment outdoors

Sexual harassment indoors

Assault / threat outdoors

Assault / threat indoors

Indecent exposure

Hit-and-run accident

124

Max M. Kommer

Appendix 2

Types of crimes covered in the Dutch Police Statistics

OFFENSES AGAINST THE PENAL CODE

MILITARY PENAL CODE

MALICIOUS DAMAGE and PUBLIC ORDER ROAD TRAFFIC ACT

offenses against public order

driving under influence, bike

(excl. discrimination)

driving under influence, car

discrimination

driving under influence, other

offenses against public authorities

hit-and-run accident

crimes against bodily security

driving while disqualified

(arson,culpable explosion and flood)

refusal to cooperate

indecency

culpable homicide or grievous

harm

malicious damage

joy-riding

damage of car

other Road Traffic Act

damage of public transport

damage of public building

DRUGS ACT

other damage

hard drugs

soft drugs

VIOLENT CRIME

murder/manslaughter (completed)

(FIRE) ARMS &

attempted murder/manslaughter

AMMUNITION ACT

help suicide or abortion

ECONOMIC OFFENSES ACT

assault

Nuisance Act

threat

Open Waters Pollution Act

Manure Act

culpable homicide or grievous bodily harm

Waste Products Act

rape

Chemical Waste Products Act

sexual assault

other environmental

other sexual offenses

protection acts

Working Conditions Act

theft with violence

Other economic offenses act

blackmail

OTIIER ACTS, DECREES

insult

ETIC.

PROPERTY CRIMES

simple theft

theft with breaking

other aggravated theft

embezzlement

counterfeiting currency

other forgery

fraud

receiving stolen goods

other crimes Penal Code

Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in The Netherlands

125

Appendix 3

Types of crimes covered in the Dutch Public Prosecutor and Court statistics:

PENAL CODE

DRUGS ACT

Offenses against public order

hard drugs

and authority

soft drugs

Offenses against life / the person

of which

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

simple assault

Violence against property

WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION ACT

of which

malicious damage

OTHER LAWS

Property crimes

theft

ECONOMIC OFFENSES ACT

of which

simple theft

TAX LAWS

aggravated theft

theft with violence

receiving stolen goods

Sexual offenses

Other offenses of the Penal Code

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT

driving under influence

hit-and-run accident

driving while disqualified

refusal to cooperate

culpable homicide or grievous

bodily harm

joy-riding

other offenses of the Road Traffic Act

126

Max M. Kommer

Appendix 4

Addresses of relevant institutes

Central Bureau of Statistics

Crime Prevention Directorate

dept. of Justice and Security Statistics

Ministry of Justice

Prinses Beatrixlaan 428

Schedeldoekshaven 100

PO BOX 959

PO BOX 20301

NL-2270 AZ Voorburg

NL-2500 EH Den Haag

tel. +31 (70) 3 37 38 00

tel. +31 (70) 370 67 10

fax +31 (70) 3 87 74 29

fax +31 (70) 370 79 05

Research and Documentation Centre

Prison Department (Policy

Ministry of Justice

Information)

Schedeldoekshaven 100

Ministry of Justice

PO BOX 20301

Schedeldoekshaven 131

PO BOX 20301

NL-2500 EH Den Haag

tel. +31 (70) 370 76 17

NL-2500 EH Den Haag

fax +31 (70) 3 70 79 48

tel. +31 (70) 3 70 26 23

fax +31 (70) 3 70 29 21

Statistical Information and Policy

Analysis Department

Ministry of Justice

Schedeldoekshaven 100

PO BOX 20301

NL-2500 EH Den Haag

tel. +31 (70) 3 70 65 68

fax +31 (70) 3 70 79 02

Criminal Statistics in Poland

Jerzy Jasinski

1. The beginning

Criminal statistics in Poland have a fairly long tradition. It goes back to

the rebirth of the Republic of Poland that occurred after World War 1.

Already the first issue of the Statistical Yearbook of Poland' that appeared

in 1923 contained a chapter on the administration of justice with some data

on the business of the court and on prison population. In the next issue for

the year 1924, the scope of information expanded. It covered basic data on

offences known to the police in the year 1922, and for some most serious

crimes even for the years 1919-1922, on persons convicted by criminal

courts, on prisons and prison population, on cases dealt with by the courts,

and finally on policemen, judges, barristers, and notaries.

During the twenties and thirties some changes were introduced in the

amount of information provided and in the way the data were arranged.

These changes were due mostly to the unification of the Polish criminal

law?. The last of these Yearbooks appeared in 1938 and covered the years

1936-1937.

Rocznik Statystyczny Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Annuaire statistique de la Republic

Polonaise), volume I

rt 11 1920/22, Glowny Urzad Statystyczny, Warszawa 1923. Volume

VIII of the Yearboo

{:a

appeared in 1930 and then was suspended due to financial con-

straints. In the same year the first volume of Maty Rocznik Statystyczny was issued. The

scope of the chapter on crime and administration of justice was not substantially reduced.

The volume XII and last of Maly Rocznik Statystyczny appeared in 1939.

2

After the World War I on the Polish territory there were three different legal systems in

force. They were inherited from the powers who took

art in the partition of Poland at

the end of XVIII century (viz. Russia, Germany, and

A

ustria).

128

Jerzy Jasinski

2. The development

Soon after World War 11, the publication of the Statistical Yearbook was

resumed, but it was suspended after a few years as a result of the prevailing

Stalinist secrecy mania’. Since 1955 the Yearbook has been published

without any break and it always contains a chapter on the administration

of justice. There have been some alterations in the scope of data published

but, with only one temporary exception, the following data have always

been included: of the number of offences committed, of juvenile

delinquents dealt with by the courts, of adults convicted, of sentences

imposed, of prison population, of prisons, courts, prosecutors, and judges.

In the seventies, no data on prison population were published for several

years. This unusual omission was caused by an article in a legal journal

which, among other things, demonstrated that the number of prisoners in

Poland, per 100 000 population, exceeded 3 to 5 times that noted in the

Western European countries. This difference was interpreted as a proof of

the excessive punitiveness of the Polish criminal justice system. In order to

stop such comparisons the authorities banned the publication of the data

on prison population which at that time was on the rise.

The information on what is published in the Yearbooks should be

supplemented by the information on what is withheld. The most notable

examples in this respect are: the number of policemen and prison staff, and

the budgetary appropriations for each segment of the criminal justice

system. In the Communist state, public expenses for securing "law and

order" were one of the treasured secrets. This secret was guarded so

eagerly that even when a few years ego the basic budgetary figures became

accessible they turned out to have been arranged in such a way that it was

impossible to establish the cost of the administration of justice in penal

matters.

3

The first post-war issue of the Statistical Yearbook (Rocznik Statystyczny 1947, Glowny

Urzad Statystyczny, Warszawa 1947), contained some data on persons convicted by the

courts. In the next issue the scope of these data - for the years 1946 and 1947 - was

expanded. In the issue for the year 1949 criminal statistic nearly disappeared: the only

information provided concerned the financial criminal cases instituted in 1948. In the issue

for 1950 there were no data on crime or criminal justice, and there were no statistical

yearbooks published in Poland for the years 1951-1954.

Criminal Statistics in Poland

129

Apart from the Statistical Yearbook there are several series of internal

publications related to various aspects of the work of the police,

prosecution, courts, and prisons. Nearly all of them are for internal use

only, therefore, there is no point to mention them here. The only exception

is the Court Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice since 1962. It is

not for sale, but it is widely distributed and is available in all university

libraries. It consists of three parts: the first one contains information on the

business of the courts and prison statistics, the second one includes

information on the activitiecs of the family courts and on juvenile

delinquency, and the third one provides data on persons convicted and

sentences imposed.

3. The idea of uniform criminal statistics

The main feature of the Polish criminal statistics is that they are not so

much the statistics of crime or administration of justice but they consist of

separate sets of data related to the activities of different segments of the

criminal justice system.

At least twice, in the mid-fifties and in the mid-sixties, there were some

altempts made to create uniform criminal statistics. These statistics were

to have had two parts. One of them was to follow offences from the

moment they had been reported to the police till the moment - at the

farthest end - of sentencing their perpetrators. The other part was to follow

persons from the moment of becoming suspects till the moment - at the

farthest end - of their conviction or even till the termination of the

execution of the penalty imposed.

After long deliberations, both attempts were abandoned offically due to

the inherent difficulties in their implementation. The main reason for the

discontinuance of the work seems to have been, however, different. Some

of the parties involved lost their interest in the affair. Uniform criminal

statistics would inevitably become an instrument of outside insight into the

work of each segment of the criminal justice system, and each of these

segments had some secrets rather hidden than revealed by its own statistics.

At present, the idea of uniform criminal statistics is not likely to take root

in the foreseeable future.

130

Jerzy Jasinski

The above attempts were not entirely futile. In the sixties, the common

statistics for the police and public prosecutors were established. They cover

the known offences, suspects, and the results of the preliminary

investigation. However, the public prosecutor’s office as well as the police

retained some kind of statistics that show their dealings in criminal and in

some other matters. Also the courts and the prison system have statistics

of their own.

4. Police statistics

The police statistics have been reorganized several times. At first, it was

based on the returns prepared by each police territorial unit. The returns

had a form of tables and the contents of these tables were added, first on

regional and finally on the country level.

At the beginning of the sixties, the system of police data collection for

statistical purposes was changed, and it has remained basically unchanged.

For each offence two separate statistical sheets are filled up, a short one

at the moment the offence is reported to the police, and a longer one at

the end of the preliminary investigation. The longer sheet contains some

information on the suspect, if available, and on the way the preliminary

investigation is terminated. If the preliminary investigation is conducted by

the public prosecutor himself, it is his office, not the police, that fills up the

longer sheet. This makes the statistics of offences a common endeavour of

the police and the prosecutor®. In the sixties and seventies the sheets were

sent to the Police Headquarters where the statistics were compiled. At

present, the statistics are prepared at the regional level according to

uniform scheme, and only the tables are transmitted to the Police

Headquarters for the compilation of the statistics for the whole country.

The problem with the police statistics is that the definition of the main

unit in the statistics used, is not clear: it should always be one offence, but

quite often it is not obvious whether one offence or more offences were

committed. This is particularly true when there is more than one

4

In all criminal cases the decision on how the preliminary investigation is terminated rests

with the public prosecutor.

Criminal Statistics in Poland

131

perpetrator, more than one victim, more than one object stolen or damaged

or when the violations of law occurred over a longer period of time or at

separate but similar occasions. These difficulties are well known, so there

is no need to go into the details here. However, these difficulties have to

be mentioned because they have not been solved satisfactorily in the Polish

criminal statistics, which creates some problems in looking at the numbers

of offences known to the police over a long time span.

The police statistics do not cover all known offenses. There are two

groups of such offences. The first group consists of offences brought to

court on a private accusation. By the very nature of these offences there is

very little police involvement in their investigation. The other group consists

of a variety of offences related to health, food, borders, customs, taxes,

financial regulations, in which the investigation is conducted not by the

police but by different administrative authorities which also have

accusational powers.

S. Court statistics

The court statistics consist of two distinctly different parts. One of them

is compiled from the returns sent to the Ministry of Justice by the common

courts of Ist and IInd instance from all over the country. In this part of the

judicial statistics several different units of counting are used. The most

notable of them are: the criminal case, the decision taken by the court, and

the person in relation to whom the decision is taken.

For the purpose of this statistics the courts used to present to the

Ministry of Justice many returns, most of them on a monthly and quarterly

basis. The form of these returns was often complicated ,which made it

difficult for the courts to complete them. They were frequently changed

and there was a tendency, well known in every bureaucratic system, to

€xpand the scope of the data requested. Slowly, the number of returns and

the frequency at which they were requested decreased as a result of the

pressure from the Central Board of Statistics (Glowny Urzad Statystyczny).

In the seventies, the above Board had been bound by law to control the

activities of all Ministries and other units of central administration in the

domain of statistical data collection for internal needs. This step has proved

132

Jerzy Jasinski

quite effective: first, in arresting the steady growing number of returns

required; second, in improving the quality of the returns; and third, in

reducing the frequency the returns had to be supplied.

At present, the Ministry of Justice requires from the courts some

statistical returns every half a year, and most of them once a year. This part

of the judicial statistics has been used mostly for the day-to-day

management of the court business. In the past, it provided also a basis for

"guiding" the criminal policy executed by the courts. At the beginning of the

nineties this latter task was abandoned since it became obsolete when the

independence of the judiciary had been re-established.

The other part of the judicial statistics was for many years based on

special sheets filled up by the courts in every case a sentence passed

became valid. The sheets were sent to the Ministry of Justice, and after

their contents had been used for statistical purposes, were transferred to

the Criminal Register. In the late seventies the entries to the Criminal

Register and the supply of information for compiling the court statistics

were separated.

In this part of the judicial statistics the unit used is the convicted person.

This statistics are utilized mostly for detailed analyses of the penalties

imposed. This is reflected in the Court Statistics published by the Ministry

of Justice. The bulk of the tables provided there relates to the number of

persons convicted for separate offences and to the penalties these persons

received. In this respect, the Polish judicial statistics do not seem to differ

much from those in other countries.

What is missing from the polish judicial statistics is first of all the data

on victims of offences committed by the sentenced offenders. There is also

only very little information on the damage caused by the sentenced

offenders. This information is limited to that done by offenders sentenced

for larceny and some related offences, and to the damage caused to the

state property only.

The other missing type of data is related to recidivism. What can be

learned from the judicial statistics is how many previously convicted

persons are sentenced each year, for what offences, and what penaltics are

imposed on them. It is, however impossible to learn how many persons who

had been convicted in a given year have been reconvicted during the first,

Criminal Statistics in Poland

133

second, third, etc., year after being sentenced or after being released from

prison.

The judicial statistics cover the sentences of common courts (courts of

general jurisdiction) only, that is they do not cover the sentences of courts

martial. In two periods this limitation became very important. In the years

1945-1955, and in the years 1982-1983, the courts martial had, apart from

the exclusive jurisdiction over servicemen, a wide jurisdiction over civilians

as well.

6. Prison statistics

The prison statistics are based only on the returns from prisons . They

are centrally compiled at the Ministry of Justice. The main unit used is the

person deprived of liberty. After some years of confusion, the double

counting which stemed from transferring prisoners from one prison to

another, and from the change of their status from remand to convicted

prisoners, was eliminated.

All categories of persons deprived of liberty as a result of committing

(or being suspected of committing) an offence are included. That is: (1)

sentenced prisoners’, (2) persons remanded in custody, (3) persons doing

their time because of default of paying a fine or because of failing to

comply with the requirements of the penalty of limitation of liberty, and (4)

persons ordered to be arrested because of committing a transgression. Till

the early nineties some of the above persons, in spite of being deprived of

liberty, were missing from the prison statistics. According to a section of

the Code of Execution of Penalties, in certain circumstances some remand

or even sentenced prisoners could be held in police cells. This section was

abolished in 1990. Since these persons were not in custody executed by the

Prison Service they were not counted in prison statistics. Occasionally (e.g.,

in times of political crises) their numbers might have been substantial.

S Persons sentenced by the court of first instance are, according to the Polish law, included

for the purpose of the execution of the penalty of imprisonment into the category of

sentenced prisoners in spite of the fact that their sentences are not valid yet.

134

Jerzy Jasinski

7. Final Remark

In Poland, criminal statistics are composed of several independent and

only loosely related parts. Most of the information gathered reflects, first

of all, the dealings of the separate segments of the criminal justice system

of the country, and not so much crime or offenders. It seems very likely

that this situation will remain unchanged for many years.

Criminal Statistics in Portugal

J. de Seabra Lopes

I. Development of criminal statistics

In 1983 the production of statistics on the administration of justice was

committed to an agency in tyhe Ministry of Justice, the Gabinete de Estudos

e Planeamento do Ministerio da Justica (GEPM]J),which acts as a delegation

of the national statistical office.

For a long time, in harmony with the Continental European tradition,

criminal statistics mainly consisted of judicial statistics, which tended to be

interpreted as fairly relaible sources of information on the criminal situation

of the country. Recent developments led to the emergence of a new

programme of recording crimes derived from law enforcement agencies,

most notably ’police statistics’.

In January 1993, the preliminary stage of the programme was set up with

the three main police forces in Portugal. Gradually, other specialised

agencies concerned with specific crimes, such as tax evasion and crimes

against public health and the economy, will also participate in the system.

GEPMJ developed a summary reporting system which uses a uniform

crime classification consisting of 81 numbers divided into five classes. Both

criminal code and non-criminal code offences are included, but not law

violations which, despite their inclusion within the penal field, are not

conceptualised as crimes.

Data recorded on suspects is limited to sex, age and detention. For

practical reasons, no information is gathered on victims at this stage.

136

J. de Seabra Lopes

I1. Data collection

GEPMJ runs a national centralised system of data collection.

Procedures vary from summary reports and individual reports submitted by

contributors as raw data, to pre-organised tables sent in by some criminal

justice agencies.

With a few exceptions, the system is manual at the contributors’ level

and automated at GEPMJ level. GEPMJ’s data base stores a vast amount

of information, of which only a part is included in the annual report

Estatisticas da Justica. This publication contains basic data on the

administration of criminal and non-criminal justice. It includes a time series

on topical subjects and a description of the volume of activity during the

year. The main areas covered are input statistics (caseflows and caseloads

in courts and law enforcement agencies); case characteristics (namely,

persons dealt with by criminal and juvenile courts); prison population; and

population of children and young people placed by juvenile court orders in

Ministry of Justice institutions for minors.

Most statistical information systems on the criminal justice system is

based on legal concepts and definitions. However, the crime reporting

system is an exception: behavioural or police terminology (like ’snatch

theft’) are used when considered more informative. This has posed a

problem of compatability; data on crimes of which persons are charged,

convicted and sentenced rest entirely on legal concepts. As a rule,

behavioural types can be aggregated and converted into legal ones.

On the whole, criminal justice statistics are compatible with

demographic and other social statistics. Such links have been made easier

by the specialized supervision that the national statistical office

exercisesover the content of statistical forms produced by GEPMJ.

137

Criminal Statistics in Portugal

II1. Reliability of data

In statistical production, reliability is an aspiration which has to be

continuously sought after. It must be admitted that operational staff regard

statistics as an unwelcome burden. Consequently, the tension between

administrative and operational tasks on the one hand, and statistical tasks

on the other, is probably inevitable and even more so in manually operated

contributors systems.

In training sessions conducted at GEPMJ for court clerks, motivation is

an ever-present concern and the importance of reliable statistical

information is stressed. Elaboration of rules of procedure and elucidation

of individual doubts are routine ways to enhance the quality of the

information collected at the suppliers level. At the central unit (GEPMJ)

quality is easier to control. In a relativerly small centralized and

computerized system, staff training and definition of rules of procedure do

not pose great problems.

Criminal justice statistics have evolved partly from tradition; partly from

consideration given by GEPMIJ to the subject matter of coverage and

contents; and partly in answer to requests by users within the criminal

justice system. However, quantitative studies, as basis for evaluating and

planning in this particular area, are not common. Therefore, users have not

been prominent partners in the improvement of the criminal justice

statistical system. Nevertheless, regular meetings provide the opportunity

to exchange views, assess needs and define priorities.

IV. Victimization surveys

The regular production of criminal statistics at the national level has

been supplemented recently, in 1989 and 1992, by the implementation of

two victimization surveys. These surveys (the first limited to the Greater

Lisbon arca and the second extended to the mainland) were stimulated by

the crime reporting programme, as a means to obtain a view of crime - or

of some crimes - independant from that conveyed by police statistics. Both

138

J. de Seabra Lopes

surveys revealed that the frequency of crime reporting was extremely low,

not even reaching a quarter of the incidenets mentioned by victims. This

information is of undoubted relevance for the administration of justice.

Besides further victimization surveys, the most important development

is likely to be the integration of the operational information system for

decision-making with the statistical one. This, however, will only be possible

when the automation of the criminal justice system, at present at its early

stage, is fully completed. It is then likely that the description of cases

entering the system may receive the same attention now given to cases

terminated. Another possibility might be the elaboration of longitudinal

statistics, making it possible to link cases in each step of the criminal justice

process.

V. To international comparisons

In spite of all future improvements, it is doubtful that criminal statistics

from different countries can ever be comparable, if the aim is measuring

levels of crime. Comparisons of global data are particularly dangerous, as

the range of behaviour which is criminalised varies considerably from

country to country. In Portugal, for instance, the legal system was

traditionally based on the distinction between crimes and other violations

of the law situated in the penal field (corresponding more or less to the

French contraventions). A few years ago, a new category was introduced -

contra-ordenacoes - similar to the German ordnungswidrigkeiten, meaning

violations of the regulatory norms which lic outside the penal field.

Eventually, anti-social behaviour will only be considered under the

categories of crimes and contra-ordenacoes. It is therefore evident that

different concepts of crime will have a direct bearing on crime figures.

Even in the restricted field of traditional crime, comparisons may be

risky due to differences in legal definitions and procedures, in statistical

rules of reporting and, not in the least, in the frequency of crime reporting.

The latter circumstance is evident in the case of Portugal, which has a

considerably low rate of reported crimes: approximately 50% of the results

Criminal Statistics in Portugal

139

from a group of countries which recently participated in an international

crime survey.

Statistics of persons before the courts mean different things in different

countries: for instance in Portugal the prosecution has limited power and

the police no power to dismiss cases but in some countries, such as Great

Britain, the prosecution is discretionary and the police frequently resort to

informal warnings (cautions) instead of prosecution.

Even in later stages of the proceedings, legal differences may have a

substantial influence on figures. Under Portuguese law, for instance, victims

are entitled to terminate cases before the court decisions are given in a

wide range of cases (such as common assault, slander and sexual crimes).

This facility is frequently used, thus affecting figures at the adjudication

stage.

On the other hand, international comparisons, which highlight variations

in law or practice between countries, can have a dynamic effect and suggest

new ways of dealing with basically similar questions. In short, international

comparisons are not valid as indicators of crime levels but can open the

way to innovations in the criminal justice systems of different countries.

Bt E

Bt

£e

e

I

13

i

(e

o

i

S

kg

L

b,

%

o

g

o3

14

Fid

:

o

L

15

"

:;‘,

§%

H

e

!

[

58 o

i

Lu

ol

i

o

A

e

#a

()

i

ot

R

4

!

g

Bips

B f%ﬂ

%

o

yid

i

A

i

o

)

o

X

&

o

25

w5

Sl

Ey

i

¥

G

i

o

i

2

g

1

o

i

§ ¥

@

i

G

b

e

%

i

.

e

:

"

%

5

i

£

i

e

ol

R

St

e

3

7

g

e

44

h

e

i

a

5

i

b

e

1%5

oy

s

o

s

b

o

!)

i

Al

Gl

S

iy

g

Gl el

545

no

ko

3

o

&

di

oo

rk é’

e

[y

e

!ﬁ %

Ay

%

$

~”'ﬁv!f'k"

o0t

[

i

e

%‘1

L

o

g

Y

i

M

he

ol

5

e

4

1%

Ehes

g

i

at

¥

9

g

i

o

o

i

i

e

=

Eiie

Vi

vh

e

&4,

oA

e

i)

[

S

i

el

%4

o

1.

B

1oe!

f’

.

e

St

o

i

oy

,»,/’**

et

3

‘:J\'

!‘;

e

¢

o

i

W

%

ey

G

al

2

7

&

iz

o

e

5

b

o8

ik

1

oo

e

e

E

.

.

%

A

“

DI

o,

b

e

o

=

“

b

o

o

i

b

i1

£

H

&

i

s

el

ba

55

b

)

v

i

o

i

i1

3

Y

3

i

Y

)

i

=

5

:

43 By

R

i

oar

o

o

o

W

i

i

o~

oo

& gt

\"C

e

o

e

e

i1

i

ol

i

o

foat

$E8

o

I8

£

vy

o

‘%‘«&

i

i

e

i

s

g

o

W

o

o

ol

.

o

RS

g

i

i

>

:

£t

Yo

et

i

8

=

as s

W

5

i

o

J

o3

it

e

f&

i

5

s

0

il

i

Al

4]

ot

o

g

.

S

£

Rt

n

P

]

3

e

i

G

o

i

o

e

i

i

o

e

-

i

;

T

et

ey

=

£l

gl

i

i

kL

G

.

kg

o

e

i

i)

i

b

0

i

e

i

e

i

g

P

s

i

i

b

o

i

i

i

"

e

-

e

1%

S

%y

s

e

g

V.

P

o

ed

i

[

B

e

i

&

k)

v

%

=

i

p

b

17

A

i

e

T

£

ot

=

we

2

e

o

Ar

e

e

&

i

e

Ea

£

)

e

L

o

e

-~

The Swedish System of Criminal Statistics

The Scope of the Statistics

Torbjorn Israelsson

General remarks

Swedish criminal statistics provide information on crimes registered by

the police, persons suspected and those convicted of crimes, persons in

custodial as well as non-custodial correctional care, persons who recidivate

into crimes, and, finally, special actions such as arrest and pre-trial deten-

tion.

The collection of data for criminal statistics is accomplished for all

practical purposes entirely by means of data extracts from the judicial

informational system, that is, information gathered for administrative pur-

poses within the judicial system. It is the police, prosecutors, courts, and

correctional system that submit information for the statistics.

The statistics describe the handling within the criminal justice system of

a large quantity of crimes that become known and registered by the police -

the proportion of crimes that are cleared up, the conclusion by the police/

prosecutor of the preliminary crime investigation, which sentences/sanctions

are selected, and how these are executed. By compiling several years of

conviction statistics, it becomes possible to study recidivism, to describe

criminal careers, and to illustrate the relatively efficiency of the sanctioning

system. Special statistics on the criminality of successive birth cohorts have

been developed.

Statistics on special measures - primarily, taking into custody, formal

arrest, and pre-trial detention - are quite incomplete and can be said to

represent the area most poorly illustrated in the statistics.

142

Torbjorn Israelsson

Are the Figures from the Different Parts of the System Compatible?

The statistical information from the various points in the criminal justice

system are not entirely comparable. For instance, statistics on crimes repor-

ted to the police (hereafter, crime statistics) and conviction statistics (in-

cluding some prosecutorial decisions implying findings of guilt) reflect

activities in different parts of the criminal justice system. The conviction

statistics cover all criminalized actions that result in findings of guilt, where-

as crime statistics do not cover all crimes registered by the police (for

example, many crimes under the special legislation with only fines in their

penalty scale are excluded).

Further, crimes are classified differently in the crime statistics than in

the conviction statistics. The classification of crimes for the crime statistics

is performed according to a particular standard for coding and counting

developed by the statistical burecau (SCB). The coding is based on the

relevant legislation but is often further broken down into subcategories to

provide information on the object and location of the crime, the age and

sex of the victim, the method used by the offender, and so on. The figures

for convicted persons, on the other hand, are given only by the section of

the law under which they are found guilty, without any further information

about the crime. Comparable crime groups can be found in both areas of

these statistical areas only on a very crude level - by chapter of the Crimi-

nal Code.

The various units of measure in the statistics - number of registered

crimes, cleared crimes, suspected/convicted persons, prisoners, and so on -

are measures of criminality but they measure criminality at different points

of the criminal justice system s disposition of criminal cases. For example,

it is not possible to follow individual cases through the judicial system, due

in part to the incomplete links between the various statistical branches. The

information that is given in the statistics thus is a type of cross-section for

the year in question.

The Swedish System of Criminal Statistics

143

The Reliability and Value of the Statistics

The criminal statistics have been delegated an increasingly significant

role in society. From having primarily been used for historical comparisons

of crime trends, the statistics have started being used to a greater degree

as arguments in the public debate on criminal policy, and in part as the

basic material for planning and decision-making about actions/measures to

be taken. These use-areas place greater demands on the reliability of the

statistics.

The reliability of the statistics can be improved by use of complementary

data sources for illustrating the dark figure of crimes. Here, SCB s victim

surveys constitute a valuable complement.

In general, it can be said that reliability is high for the statistics on

convicted persons and statistics on correctional care. Crime statistics reflect

only that part of reality that consists of crimes that become known to and

registered by the police. To answer questions about the level and structure

of or changes in the actual criminality, further knowledge is often necessary.

For many types of crimes, such knowledge is obtained from victim surveys,

surveys of self-declared criminality, or analyses of convictions and police

investigations. Criminal statistics are sulficiently reliable for those crimes

that are regularly reported to the police (for example, break-ins, car thefts),

whereas reliability is worse for crimes that are seldom reported (minor

crimes of violence between acquaintances, crimes against public order or

the state or such crimes that become known as a result of the police and

other authority “s surveillance activities (drunken driving, tax crimes, and so

on)

Changes in Data Collection, Development of Surveys, Use of Computers,

Improvements of Dissemination

Electronic data processing is developing rapidly within the various

sectors of the criminal justice system. Over a short period of time, in effect

all routines within the police, prosecutors, courts, and correctional care will

144

Torbjoérn Israelsson

be computerized. This may influence the manner in which information is

gathered for the statistics, in that the data are gathered directly from the

local authorities instead of as is the present practice, obtaining statistical

basic material from the central judicial computerized system.

So far, surveys have been primarily used for victim studies. Other feasi-

ble areas for surveys include studies of public confidence in the justice

system, how the "general sense of justice" has changed, and so on.

The criminal statistics are now distributed by means of printed matter,

computer tables, diskettes for further processing by the user, as well as

through information being made available via central data bases. The

distribution through access to data bases will increase. Within SCB, a

conversion is being discussed from central computer-based production to

client-server solutions. Further, the possibilities are being discussed for

creating so-called public use files with de-identified, reduced information

that various users, researchers, and the like, gain access to for further

processing and analyses.

Victim Studies or Microcensuses as Substitutes/Complements for

Administrative Statistics

Criminal statistics that are primarily based on material collected for

administrative purposes can hardly be replaced by victim surveys or micro-

censuses. On the other hand, victim surveys constitute an important com-

plement to the traditionally gathered statistics. Victim surveys as well as

microcensus surveys are expensive to conduct and in light of the current

poor economy within the Swedish public administration, the possibilities of

further developing this complement appear to be slim. More likely is that

we will be forced to reduce sample sizes in the victim surveys which will

limit their usefulness - in particular, if we want to break down the statistics

on a regional basis.

The Swedish System of Criminal Statistics

145

The Possibilities of Establishing International Comparability

The question of whether criminal statistics can be used for international

comparisons is impossible to answer generally. Each particular use must be

examined with regard to whether or not the official statistics are appropri-

ate for comparisons between countries.

The international demands on the Swedish criminal statistics have until

now consisted of requests from international organizations for reports to

be sent in to their publications and data bases. It is primarily the U.N. and

Interpol who request such information. Within the framework for the work

that is conducted between the Nordic statistical bureaus, a Nordic criminal

statistics publication has been produced. The method chosen for this

endeavour implies proceeding from each countries” published statistics,

compiling them, and describing the differences in their legislation and

statistical routines. Then, it is left to the users to determine how possible

differences in the statistical outcomes should be interpreted.

Even if criminal statistics have not yet been the focus of any substantial

interest within EUROSTAT, we expect to begin receiving requests for

criminal statistics for European comparisons. What is usually asked for in

comparative studies of criminality among countries includes information on

the level of crime, crime trends, sentences and sanctions, and the size of

prison populations. It should be possible here to compile statistics at least

for well-defined groups of crimes as well as groups of sanctions. Inter-

national statistics on the prison population are also compiled by the Coun-

cil of Europe in their Prison Information Bulletin.

i

a»

<y

(e

o)

b

£

5

t

e

s

o

i

S

.

i

L

Ak

Il

oy

i

.

ot

ik

i

%

e

I

&

P

0

il

dy

"

o

¢!

e

i

Y

0

ASEEL L

ki

A

o

%

i

5

b

ikt

A d

o4

i

5{

bt

%

B

et

St

By

4

s

o

i

’

i

il

O

"

4

£

B

i

d

e

i

.

5

i

i

L

gt

i

L

b

o

e

K

s

%

i

ey

et

B

e

u;;‘

o

-

.

&

i

(5

i

0

ok T

e

e

S

by

L

:

ke

e

3

e

v

vy

hy

%v

o

5

A

s

(5,

i)

pis

o

21

i

08

e

i kR

Ax

Fd

0

i

kP

il

it

1

i

%

33

il

(21

-

Sy

e

o

g

Lek

&1

yata

o

P

B

e

L

1

&

=

%

A

g

T

e

Sidy

i

4

g

8l

ek

Ed

.

2

s

e

[

¥

L

5

T

i

.

ey

i

i

o

"

i

;é%w kY

o

Pl

B hy

"

o

el

bl

5,

.

i

S

b

&

i

uA &

L

A

¢

i

%

"

2

Wi

i

LNl

)

il

£

&

e

a5

P H

el

s

(E5VA]

b

e

i

o

[

5

r’

L

%A

i

L

i

B

o

e

A

ity

=

¥

3

i

ke

e

)

o

b

i

1%

b

#

T

v

i

‘{D

i

s

i

v

e

N

e

o'

i

g

kA

g

pen

o

B

&

9

o

b

B

SR

L

5

s

ik

L

i

A

i

£ b

Doy

Ty

i

o

Wl

o4

=

G

%

o

o

i

0

MR

"

’:

il

i

s

o

i

&

day

’:‘ gl

L

A%

K

th

i

2

‘:

i

o5

o

e

ﬂ;

1

g

S

™

"

%

it

i

i

i

:

;

4

2

i

i

[

&

e

[

d

it

I

5

ik

o

Fo

%

o5

e

o

s

i

i

fail

B

45

590

sl

e

3

e

"

s

A

i

h

o

g

452

£

s

B

7

e

ek

i%

e

2

o

by

i

o

)

o

v

&

i

5

i

s

o

'5

4

o

e

i

.

4

o

)

e

e

A

. ,,E

i

Fe

i

An Example from the Developing Countries:

Criminal Justice Statistics in Africa

N. Masamba Sita

1. Introduction

Many authors have written about the lack of good qualitative and quan-

titative statistics needed to carry out research into the arcas of crime

prevention, the working of the criminal justice system and the treatment of

offenders. Such reasons explain the low participation rate of African coun-

tries in United Nations surveys.

The material brought together in seminars organised by the United

Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment

of Offenders [UNAFRI] has encouraged us to ask the following question

on African crime statistics: which is, to know whether African countries do

have adequate statistics on crime for their own purposes?

This question can perhaps be better rephrased in the following way: Is

there a lack of statistics or is it more a problem of the quality of statistics

and their availability? This chapter will consider all these questions, making

use of the material brought to UNAFRI seminars by delegates from dif-

ferent African countries.

2. The Available Literature

The authors noted below examine some of the aspects of the following

questions which we consider important: to know

148

N. Masamba Sita

i)

Do the criminal statistics cover all the different agencies of the crimi-

nal justice system and the penal system? Are statistics from different

agencies compatible.

i)

What is the accuracy and usefulness of the statistics?

if)

What changes are necessary in the collection of the statistics?

v)

To what extent should measures of recorded crime be replaced or

complemented by victim surveys or sample censuses.

v)

Are comparisons possible at the international level?

2.1 J. Thabard

The first response to these questions has been made by J. Thabard, who

writes about juvenile delinquence, saying that the available statistics are

often of little use, the trends they show are now accurate and do not allow

a simple comparison of one country with another'.

2.2 Y. Brillon

Another author who has given a lot of attention to the problem of

crime in Africa is Y. Brillon. He state that in general all authors deplore

the lack of effective statistics, their accuracy and their poor usefulness.”

2.3 Femi Odenkule

This author® introduces a further dimension to African criminal statis-

tics. He reports:

During my first working visit as Director of UNAFRI to a collection of

African states of all sub-regions of the continent, in order to discover

problems and priorities, the local responsible officials whom I met were

unable to provide me with the latest published official statistics on offending

and penal justice.

1

J. Thabard: Quelles ap

roches de la delinquance juvenile en Afrique: in Environnement

Africain, No. 79-39, 19

5

9, p. 9.

2

Y. Brillon; Ethnocriminologie de I'’Afrique Noir, VRIN/P.U.M. 1980, p. 12.

3

Femi Odenkule: Bilan des connaissances en Afrique: in Ph. Robert (sous la directioin):

les Politiques de prevention de la delinquance a I'aune de la recherche; ed. I'Harmattan,

1991, V. note 5, p. 177.

Criminal Justice Statistics in Africa

149

He went on to say:

In one of these countries, 1 was told that this type of publication related

to national security and that in order to have acces to such material I would

need to ..

make an official request!!!

We note two points when considering the comments of these authors:

i) The inability of countries to produce the latest officially published

statistics on crime and the penal system.

ii) The difficulty of access to these statistics

What is the cause of this inability? Is it because the statistics do not

exist in these countries or is it due to poor methods of collection? Is the

difficulty of access in certain countries simply an administrative feature or

is it due to the non-existance of the statistics?

Whatever one can say about the problem of poor data collection, there

is a further difficulty in that it is impossible to reconcile statistically the

flow of police arrests and the figures of prison population because of the

independence of various parts of the criminal justice system (S.A.J.P.).*

To the extent that in many African countries administrative constraints

restrict access to criminal statistics, victim surveys can supplement our

knowledge. Such enquiries have the undoubted advantage that they are not

limited by what the administrative system of justice can produce.

3. Country Reports

3.1 The Point of View of African Experts

E. Kibuka observes that:

One common factor identified in most countries is the inability of

governments to collect statistics which are accurate, complete and useful: and

4

Cfr. G. Houchon; Proprietes et strategies pour une criminolo

¢ du tiers-monde; in

UNICRI, Essays on Crime and Development; Publication No. 36

R

oime, July 1990, p. 58.

150

N. Masamba Sita

to prepare national statistics which are measure the volume of crime, its

characteristics and trends.’

Having considered several commentaries on country reports, it is inter-

esting to note an enquiry lead by UNAFRI. Despite its limited remit, the

enquiry throws a certain light on the problem we are examining. We will

limit ourselves to a sample of items on the questionnaire.

Of the 19 countries which took part in this seminar’, only 9 had

responded to the questionnaire.

-

Item 2:

Only 6 countries had a uniform classification for statistics.

=

Item 5:

6 countries said that they organised the collection of statistics

-

Item 11:

6 countries had a centralised statistical service

=)

Item 15:

Only one country had a structure for collecting, processing

and analysing statistics

The statistics from this enquiry indicated a very different situation

amoung different african countries. If we postulate a hierarchy of measures,

the position varies from one country to another.

The collection of statistics in a pilot survey carried out by UNAFRI on

crime, administration of juctice and victimization, was planned in two

towns, Bujumburta and Kampala, although access was allowed and counting

rules agreed, the coverage of the survey was quite low’.

We thus return to the point we made before; the lack of structures for

collection, processing and analysis of statistics. In most countries there is

a data collection, because this is part of the law. But the rest of the work,

the centralisation of the statistics with the aim of analysing trends (either

E. Kibuka; Information et donnees sur la crime, la victimization et 'administration de

la justice penale dans le context du developpement en Africa, 1987, p. 1.

idem; p. 7-9.

Seminaire de 'UNAFRI sur las planification pour la prevention du crime et la justice

penale dans le contexte du developpement, Addis Abeba, juin 1987.

Compare the report presented to UNAFRI on the co-ordination and carrying out of the

African crime survey; Kampala (Uganda) 23-27 November 1992.

Criminal Justice Statistics in Africa

151

increasing or falling) and the formualation of crime policies, is just not

done.

3.2 Countries Reports

The brevity of this paper only allows us to make a few references to

these reports for illustrative purposes.

3.2.1 Burundi

In this country, article 2 of the code of penal procedure (CPP) says:

Officers of the police judiciare record the crimes which they investigate.

They receive complaints about crimes, the times and the places where they

occur ...

On the basis of this aspect of the penal procedure and others, different

registers are drawn up:

a)

transactions occuring

b)

cases opened

©)

prison receptions

d)

documents sent to the Parquet

These different registers are based on different counting rules, and the

consistency of these rules is often ignored in Burundi. The different statis-

tics of the criminal justice process, such as the police, courts and prisons,

are not of equal validity.

A further source of statistics is the Burundi Report® - this is the

security council for each administrative sector - i.e. the national and

regional security councils. This oversees the two corps - the Police and the

Gendarmerie on a weekly basis, where the local provincial governor

considers events where the two corps interact.

9

Idem.

152

N. Masamba Sita

It is clear that there is no national statistical service. As far as crime is

concerned, unfortunately, the annual statistics only reflect the work of the

police.

3.2.2 The Congo

The report from the delegate from the Congo showed that there was

not a national statistical service which coordinated the reports from the

local police commissariats to make a detailed report on the national situa-

tion.

3.2.3 Madagascar

The report of the Direction de la Police Judiciare is a very useful

source of statistics. This report includes monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and

annual statistics of all the police activites in the island. A report is pub-

lished each year.

3.2.4 Ruanda

Two important sources of the situation in Ruanda are the Police Judi-

ciare and the Inspection Administrative. The presidential decree No 132/06

of 10 March 1989" instructed these two organisations, or behalf of the

central administration, to collect, analyse and exploit statistics on crime and

criminal justice. Courts, tribunals and the Parquets send regular statistics

on their activities to the central administration where they are analysed and

published in an annual report of crime in the country.

4. Summary

The various reports noted above indicate what statistics on crime and

criminal justice are available in African countries. Unfortunately, they are

not very far advanced.

10 Idem, p. 15.

Criminal Justice Statistics in Africa

153

In comparing one country with another, the level of detail varies. Nota-

ble, social, economic and administrative conditions are different, but also

the method of collecting the statistics varies. For example, police statistics

take more interest in national security than courts or prison statistics.

We have said before that it is very difficult to account statistically for

the flow of people through from arrest by the police to prison population

in the absence of a common database where each agency is able to record

exactly what has happened while the particular person was in their charge.

This characteristic compromises all attempts to make comparisons, either

at the national or international level.

National statistical services in these countries, where they exist, ought

to be concerned with the compatibility of the figures produced by the

criminal justice system.

Whatever the qualites of criminal justice statistics in a country the

potential for crime surveys remains high. These would supplement the

statistics of the criminal justice system. Such a diverification of statistical

data collection would serve a very important social purpose.

i

s

heiZ

o

o

o

b

pa

.

i

e

hrd

S

w5

e

Y @'&

L

i

i

i

s

v

4

5

o

i

o

)

it

o

M

e

T

o et

L

Ve

E

§

L/r, £

o

ot

%

pos

adion

.

o

o

5

i

3

g

I

PR

i

.

(&

i

i

Sies vyl

p¥

i

o

0

o

i

i

4

‘

i

bﬂ'

%

¥

3

-

5

o

&

o

s

i

e

e

e

o

P

o

s

ik

Bl

-

i

b

P

i

o

i

-

73

i

K

&

e

g

i

5

£

i

&

st

f}!

e

5

#

i

1

.

i

T a

£

o

b

i

&

¥

"

e

%

¥

ur

2

.

‘34

o

s

(RE)

434

R

bR

A

i

1

i

e

e

»“g

i

drig

e

Y

o

0

biks

o

o

€

:

ket

i

%

be

4

s

X

&

e

s

=

I

o

o

g

i

3

S0t

i

a

i

i

o

e

e

d

e

i

W

L

b

o

e

i

5!

5

X

gk

i

B

21

2k

el

34

m

W

o

Be)

i

[

£

P

e

b

0

ee

&

4

i

i

e

£

B

5

i

o

-

i

.

b

i

i

s

5

Sy

g

ip

ki

e

n

s

i

b

e <::

i

g

25

e

ik,

fik

o

&

vf

w‘s

o

e

St

i

By

ot

i

e

s

i

:

N

.

b

il

i

G

ey

ks

&

4

i

"

i

i

i

8

)

ﬁﬁ‘

‘A{I

B

i

i!

btir‘

.

o

A

iR

E

4

k)

s

i

il

2

N

i

i

it ¢

e

e

£

et

b

:%

s

7

¢

¥

bl

i

e

iﬁ‘

“

.

R

i

4

s

.t

i

&

L

9

bl

4

]

£

)

G

i

e

ar

e

e

B

e

e

vt

o

4

.

i

o

o

y

:

.

e

e

()

Y

¥

i

[

g

b

X

.

Jiss

b

g

&

g4

R

S

P

s

o

il

e

&

gt

i

9

-

)

o

9

e

e

o

i

i

1

i

I

o

B

%

-

i

-

it

o

i

o

jie;

s

4

X

g

Vi

viny)

byt

Lo

o

B

o

s

e

&

.

v

-

i

"

s

.l

p

i‘

e

i

&

o

4

.

o

e

Vi

i

e

|

T

-

2

5;{

o

e

=W

Et

b

i

£

L

.

i

i

&

L

A

o

i

b

i&

.

i

i

o

i

5

e

Libs

.

i

o

i

b

o

i

R

{3

o

i

v

5

e

e

Red

o

A

i

b

=

-

;r,f

"

1

"

i !

i

g

£

i

e

iir

&

.

e

K.

o8

wiy

n

An Example from Overseas:

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

Sange de Silva

Introduction

Established in 1981, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics has a

mandate to produce information on the extent and nature of crime and the

administration of criminal, civil and administrative justice in Canada. This

information is intended to serve governments in the development, operation

and evaluation of justice policies and programs as well as to broaden public

awareness of the trends in crime, how the justice system operates and of

its costs.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics also provides financial

assistance and expert advice to federal, provincial and municipal agencies

with justice responsibility in developing information systems that can serve

local operations as well as national information requirements.

Reflecting these responsibilitics, the Centre has two main operational

arcas. The first, Statistics and Information Directorate, is responsible for

the development on operation of statistical surveys, their analysis and

special studies. The second, Technical Assistance Directorate, provides

technical and financial assistance to individual, jurisdictions. It is also

responsible for responding to information requests, marketing and client

relations.

156

Sange de Silva

Statistics and Information

At the present time information is collected on the justice sectors of

policing services, corrections, courts, youth justice and legal aid. For each

of these sectors, four types of information are collected: caseload and case

characteristics data quantify the volume and describe the nature of the

cases dealt with; qualitative information describes the structure, legislative

authority and programs of each sector; and, revenues, expenditures and

personnel data (REP) quantifies the costs of administering the system. Data

collection is on-going resulting in the availability of time series information

as well as the latest data possible.

The following is a brief description of each Canadian survey and the

type of information collected.

Policing Services

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)Survey has collected information on

three categories of caseload and caseload characteristics data since 1962

(i.e., offence, clearances and persons), including the number of known

offences or those reported to the police, unfounded and actual offences

cleared by charge or otherwise, the number of adults charged (by gender)

and young offenders charged or dealt with informally (by gender).

Extensive development work was initiated in 1984 to collect incident-

based data which will expand the information available from the survey. For

example, the new survey captures age and sex of victims and offenders,

victim-accused relationships, level of injury, weapons involved, location of

incident, type of property and dollar values for property and drug crimes.

With these data, issues such as family violence (i.e., elder abuse, child

abuse and wife battering), the cost of crime, and the economic magnitude

of the drug trade can be addressed. This new incident-based Uniform

Crime Report Survey is now being implemented across Canada.

157

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

Information collected by the Homicide Survey can address specific

questions such as methods used to commit homicide, characteristics of

homicide incidents, victim-accused relationships and characteristics of

victims and suspects. The survey was amended during 1990-91 to collect

information on the incidence of drug-related and gang-related homicides

as well as improved information in the area of suspect-victim relationship

to help address areas such as family violence.

Detailed information is collected on police officers, special constables

and civilians (by rank, gender and function) and on police salaries and

expenditures via the Police Administration Survey.

Adult Courts

Case characteristics and caseload information collected by the Adult

Criminal Court Survey (ACCS) provides details relating to the disposition

of criminal cases in Provincial-Territorial Courts involving federal statute

offences, and caseload indicators for federal, provincial and municipal

statute cases.

The Revenues, Expenditures and Personnel Survey (REP) provides

information on the operation and costs of the court system in Canada. The

survey collects data on all levels of court, including the federal level, with

the exception of the Municipal Courts in Quebec.

Qualitative descriptions of the organization and jurisdictions of the

courts sector are provided as part of this survey.

The Legal Aid Survey collects aggregate provincial/territorial resource,

caseload and caseload characteristics information associated with the

delivery of legal aid services. Descriptive information (structure,

administration, eligibility criteria, tariff rates and process) is also collected

on the delivery of legal aid in all provinces/territories.

158

Sange de Silva

The Prosecutions Survey provides information on the delivery of

prosecutorial services in each jurisdiction. In addition to providing

quantitative information regarding personnel and expenditures it also

describes the unique service delivery mechanisms in jurisdictions.

Corrections

The Adult Corrections Survey collects aggregate data concerning

custodial and non-custodial services provided to adults in the provincial,

territorial and federal jurisdictions across Canada. Caseload, case

characteristics and REP data are collected in addition to basic qualitative

information which describes the organization and delivery of correctional

services for each province or territory, Correctional Services Canada, and

the National Parole Board. This survey is currently under review to identify

information needs and corresponding data requirements.

In addition, the Adultand Youth Key Indicator Report Projects collect and

report aggregate key indicator data which provide a monthly time series

overview and analysis of adult and youth custodial caseloads. Information

collected under both surveys is limited to a single data element: "monthly

average daily actual-in count” of persons in custodial facilities. Semi-annual

reports are prepared, providing corrections managers with timely

information on short-term trends.

Youth Justice

The Youth Court Survey collects statistical information on Criminal Code

and other federal statute charges heard in youth courts. Caseload and case

characteristics data are collected from participating jurisdictions through

the largely form-based manual survey. Based on current system

development plans, it is expected that most jurisdictions will achieve the

capacity to provide national information from automated systems.

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

159

It is expected that system development work for the Youth Custody and

Community Services Survey will be completed in most jurisdictions within

five years. In the interim, data will be generated by an annual, aggregate

survey.

The Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDO)Survey is a micro data survey.

It gathers statistical information about persons under the jurisdiction of the

provincial Boards of Review. Virtually all of these patients have been found

unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible. These patients, who now

number well over a thousand, are of particular interest partly because they

raise complex legal, psychiatric and administrative issues, and partly

because the cost of containment and treatment over the years is very high.

The database contains information about the age, sex and marital status

of mentally disordered offenders. It collects court information including

alleged offence and the type of court order imposed. The name and

address of the treating institution, medical information including diagnosis,

and the mental history of the patient are also captured. The database also

collects information on the Review Board process including which persons

were present at the meeting, and the recommendation of the Board. The

survey also collects information on discharge including diagnosis at

discharge, destination of the patient, legal status and other pertinent

hospital and psychiatric data.

As mentioned earlier, these surveys are intended to describe the

activities of the administration of justice. As such, statistics generated by

these surveys may not necessarily reflect accurate trends of the justice

phenomena. For Example, less than 40 % of the crimes are reported to the

police nationally. This percentage may change over time and across

jurisdictions making jurisdictional comparisons and trend analysis

questionable. Changing practices and policy orientations are also reflected

in the official statistics. Despite these obvious anomalies, official statistics

remain a very useful source of information to monitor justice phenomena

in Canada. Experience shows that public reporting of crime changes so

slowly that its impact on official statistics becomes insignificant. The same

could be said about justice policies and procedures.

160

Sange de Silva

Other factors contributing to a high level of reliability of official statistics

in Canada include a common criminal code for all provinces and territories,

a response rate approaching 100 % for the police surveys, application of

common units of counts, definitions, data elements and counting

procedures by all respondents, and policies to ensure that each respondent

has an opportunity to verify the accuracy and completeness of its own

information prior to public release.

Victimization Surveys

The major goal of the Canadian justice statistics program has historically

been the development of performance indicators in the administration of

criminal justice. In the past few years however, criminal victimization

surveys have been developed and these surveys produce data which are

complimentary to the Uniform Crime Reporting data. Canada’s victimization

survey is conducted every five years using a national sample of 10,000

adults. In addition to estimating criminal incidents, these surveys provide

data on the financial as well as physical costs of victimization, on the fear

of being victimized, and on the reasons for not reporting some incidents to

the police. They also provide data on the opinions respondents hold of the

administration of justice and on the kinds of activities people engage in to

avoid victimizations.

Special Studies

The Special Studies program is given a high priority within the Centre’s

activities. Special Studies are devoted to subjects which are of great

importance to the policy and management agenda of the governments, and

would require special planning, data collection and analysis. At present,

several one-time surveys including a national survey of violence against

women are being conducted to address the issue of family violence.

Sentencing, Youth Recidivism and Aboriginal Justice are also being studied

under this program.

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

161

Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance is the second major organizational area within the

Centre. Its major role is to support the development of statistical programs

and the transfer of technology between jurisdictions, helping them to

develop operational information systems through technical expertise and

resource support. Technical Assistance also provides valuable systems and

technical support internally.

Technical Assistance comprises four program areas: Jurisdictional

Assistance, Centre Assistance, Technology Co-ordination and Information

and Client Services. A brief description of each follows.

Jurisdictional Assistance

The Jurisdictional Assistance Program provides technical and financial

assistance to justice jurisdictions to develop information systems capable of

contributing to national statistics and information; provides technical

leadership, support and assistance in the development of strategies and

systems which are supportive of the national statistical effort; keeps the

justice community informed about technological innovations; and assists in

the delivery and effective utilization of technical services to the Centre.

The Jurisdictional Assistance Program system specialists work in close

co-operation with analysts, program chiefs and jurisdictional representatives

to identify opportunities, develop proposals, secure funding and proceed

with system development.

Information and Client Services

The Information and Client Services unit was established in 1990-91 to

promote the use and accessibility of information to users by responding to

requests for statistics and information, by providing clearinghouse and

brokerage services and by undertaking general communication activities.

162

Sange de Silva

Centre Assistance

This program provides data processing support to the Centre’s statistical

programs for publications and responses to special requests. Services fall

into three main categories: (i) information support for Centre products and

services; (ii) technology support for the Centre’s hardware and software; and

(iit) systems support to build tools which facilitate the analytic process or

other activities of a repetitive nature.

Technology Co-ordination Group

This program is responsible for: (i) the development of in-house systems

which facilitate the analytic process or other activities of a repetitive nature;

(ii) the management, acquisition and maintenance of technological

resources at the Centre; and (iii) the development of a long-term

technology strategy.

Organization

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is directed by a board of

directors composed of federal, provincial and territorial deputy ministers

responsible for justice and the Chief Statistician of Canada. It is also

advised, in a formal organizational setting, by the Canadian Court

Administrators. This ensures that the work of the Centre reflects the

priorities for those who are charged with the responsibility to deliver justice

services in Canada.

To ensure autonomy, clarity of purpose and impartiality, the Centre is

located outside justice policy departments, and within the central statistical

agency - Statistics Canada. Unlike the experience in many other countries,

Canada’s justice statistics program is highly centralized with the Centre

having the sole responsibility to produce all national information pertaining

to crime and the administration of justice. This helps the program to

pursue a holistic organizational approach, allowing for more effective

163

Canada’s Justice Statistics Program

program planning and program integration. By virtue of its greater size, it

offers a critical mass of professional expertise, visible career opportunities

and greater continuity of staff. It also offers a clear focal point for the user

community.

Summary

In 1981, the Canadian authorities made a solid commitment to the

establishment of a national justice program. Despite very considerable

progress made during the last decade, several significant information gaps

remain to be filled. Canada has virtually no information on civil or

administrative justice. Official records which form the basis for most

criminal justice statistics on prisons, on courts and on police need

improvement. Improvement can occur in coverage, completeness and

consistency and more importantly, in automation. In Canada, the demand

is rapidly increasing for information which goes beyond the administration

of justice. Reliable measures of wife assault, child abuse and elder abuse

are being sought. Canada faces the challenge of refocussing its statistical

program to support a growing policy emphasis on crime prevention through

social development.

3%

L

o

=

£

"

b

o

.

PRt

L

e

i

le

o

s

b

A

oF

4

&

!'I

15 8

4

i

S{s,}‘ﬁ#f}?{

o

i

i

%{4

5

auniy

e

n

#0

¥

o

,

b

£

P

§d

&

i

A

RN

i

i

WL

g

i,

Py

Jo

i

%

s

s

&

B

"

i

o

%<

A

i

e

e

W

&

v

%

.

i

&

o

%

4

2

R

.

i

i

i

%

s

=

e

e

e

2

&

¥a

i

pe

0

i

i

W

4

e

e

[y

4

s

¥l

:

e

il

iy

s

Ay

B

e

Nl

4

il

i ;,%n

i

A

i

Ao

2

e

¥

s

.%D

i

o

i

&

i

el

S

b

e

3‘»

s

b

'y

g

ol

;

S

ot

e ¢

X

L

e

it

1%

i

s

5

i

AL

25

&t

44

B

e

b

i

5

i

i

i

Gags

fga

e

&

1

o

¥

g

)

i

54

b

L

f

e

ks

sy

¥y

FA.

o

e

g

Y

b

Y

o

-

0

WAl

o7

o

e

‘e

b

o

g

ot

sl

i

4

L

Ged poe

0

g

-

pe

e

o

v on

o

4

o

bl

i

ot

b

it

i

ad

&

W

5

o

A

gk

o

i

E+

o

4

B

oA

o

P

P

i

ok

i

>

i

e

it

!

.

e

bl

3%

i

i

i€

e

%

o

G

o

i

%

i

A

3

i

4

"

5

e

2

Jou

ok

o

b

o

.

.

£

ek

by

o

iy

£ie

o

5

i

o

ih!

e

i

e

g

ks

7

g

e

i

b

ik

i

o)

:

et

e

o

f

i

i

O

o

i

5

5

-

2

i

e

P

h

1

i

£

!

e

N

o

.

I

e

o

o

e

L

"

o

T

ﬂ.

N

!

i

.

5

=

i

&

e

o

Al

-

III. International Efforts and Prospects

R

o

e

o

i

-

ol

e

=

&,

o

i

piex

4

.

7

oy

%

it

A

¥

%

¥

i

i

i

o,

V]

o

e

i

=y

o

vy

h

i

Fi

g

e

el

3

o

7

gis

T

%

454

2

b

fi

s

L

; i

9

i

R

o

v

'3:‘,‘

o

153

o

2%

b

Ry

i

W

g

),

0

A

e

L

/

y

o

iy

a

o

e

e

Ry

S48

g

e

e

s

i

o

P

g

:

Ly

&

o,

S

by

e

7

M

.

i

b

i

e

&

ﬁ?

4,:

3

A

o

S0

i

.

S o

i1

i

i

i

pit

-

P

5

7

b

i

e

i

£k

NS

"%n

v

o

£

&

!

i

A

sl

'

s

4

.

.

gy

N

BN

Al

e

A

WA

AR

5

e

i

Nt

jol

)

v

S

é&

i

0

&

B

b

5

T

&

Sated

i

)

:

¢

3

i

i

A

%

e

G

&

o

o

e

L

o

N

i

e

o

o

iy

.

£

o

-

£

i

L

o

J

0

s

i

o

o

%

L

bt

A

.

it

et

i

L

i

o

.

el

B

s

iy

::

o

i

i

o

&

&%

ge

.‘:}

k

b

G

e

N

1

e

P

By

535

i

%

e

(s

e

.

aha

i

g

o4

o

.

o

o

i

-

i

o)

4

&

&

Lo

.

gL

£

e

a

ALY

£54

f

i

i

LA

o

g

.

4o

3

o

o

5

SRy

4

.

)4

il

.

4%

e

r

Lo

i

Sl

;

.

%

.

By

oY

5%

D

SE

£

;

e

&

it

s

o8

i

ol

phe

L

-

i

e

TN

3

)

i

¢

7z

T

o

a4

o

B

e

b

L

o

o5

s

sia)

i

o

N

&

ol

:‘4

%

4

e

o

i

i

i,

S

i

e

v

e

% ¥

7

.

o

i

3

%p\ft’*

N

e

ol

ik

-

&

S

I

.«f{ﬁ

it

2

i

i

o

et

e

o

g

ot

.

k=)

i

"

d:;;'

b

e,

ik,

e

&

5t

R

i

i

o

i

-

oy

e

B

&

L

:

st 43

58

ki

b

Ee"

Ay

-

4

e

o

s

20

o

X

%

o

i

[

i

i

A

he

o

g

158

o

s

o)

Etons

¥

2

LE¢

B

Pl

iR

-

Py

o

o

e

P

g%

g e

i1

i

{3

i

i

E

il

oy

e

72

b

ud’ S

5

i

ik

S

ot

24

o

5

T

&

£

¥

o

e

B

i

e

5

5

i

3

iy

5

i

Vo,

i

¥

e

RN

b

i

e

e

all

%

i

o

s

e

Seae

ke

e

s

e

i

S

e

7,

i

b

i

b

IR

e

?:

b

|

5

ki

2

¥

(o

i

o

o

ke

5

i

sl

?

vl

i

iz

G

R

i

o

S

54

e

noe

3

F i

bt

e

?.41;{7

Ay

be

25

o

i

.

5

g

.

¢:

&5

\ff‘(

s

oL

L

e

B

i

-

i

S

t

e

.

i

o

ey

5

2

.

- i

e

pS

s

il

'.

5:

ol

%

L8

s

;

g

i

6k

e

ke

i

e

i

frbds

%

o

International Studies and Statistics

on Crime and Criminal Justice

Chris Lewis

This chapter considers work by International organisations to produce

statistics on crime and criminal justice for different countries. The main

agencies covered are Interpol, the United Nations and the Council of

Europe.

INTERPOL

1. The longest running set of statistics are those on crime recorded by the

police which are produced by Interpol.

2. Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organisation, collects and

publishes information on crimes recorded by the police. The first set of

statistics was published in 1950 and the most recent set contained

information from almost 100 countries on crimes recorded in 1989 and

1990.

3. Offences are divided into thirteen major categories: murder; sex

offences; rape; serious assault; aggravated thelt; robbery and violent theft;

breaking and entering; theft of motor cars; other thefts; fraud; counterfeit

currency offences and drug offences. For each category of offence the

number of cases known to the police, the percentage of attempts, the

percentage of cases solved and the number of crimes per 100,000

inhabitants is recorded. The total number of offenders and the percentage

of women, juveniles and foreigners is also recorded.

168

Chris Lewis

4. Detailed instructions are given on what should be included in each

category of offence but even so the different legal definitions in each

country mean that the figures have limited use as a basis for comparison.

Different police procedural practices also affect the comparability, as does

the fact that the volume of unrecorded crime varies from country to

country and from year to year.'

UNITED NATIONS

5. The first attempt by an international organisation to produce a

international set of statistics for the criminal justice as a whole seems to

have been the Statistical Report on the state of crime 1937-1946 produced

by the UN Secretariat in 1950. This covered 31 countries over a half of the

membership of the UN at that time. However, it was many years before this

attempt was repeated and it was not until 1977 that the UN Crime

Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch in Vienna started to carry out a

periodical world survey of crime trends and trends in criminal justice

systems.

UNITED NATIONS CRIME SURVEYS

6. The first survey covered the years 1970 to 1975 [see report A/32/199]:

the second survey the years 1976 to 1980 [sec report A/CONF.121/18 and

Corr.1]:

and the third survey the years 1981 to 1985 [see report

A/CONF.144/6]. Information on these surveys is now available to the

International Community, including governments and academic institutions,

not only in these reports but also on computer diskettes, via the UNCJIN

computer network and, in the form of country criminal justice profiles in

the UN Bibliographical IS of the Dag Hammarskjold Library in New York.?

1

The longest running set of statistics are those on crime recorded by the police which are

produced by Interpol.

2

For further details on how these sources can be accessed, please contact the coordinator

of UNCIIN, School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York, 135 Western

Avenue, Albany, New York State 12222, USA.

International Studies and Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice

169

7. In addition the UN regional agencies have produced regional reports

dealing with specific topics using and interpreting data from these surveys.

For example, the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control

(HEUNI) has produced Criminal Justice Systems in Europe (Helsinki 1985)

and Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America (Helsinki 1990):

the Australian Institute of Criminology has produced Crime and Justice in

Asia and the Pacific (Tokyoand Canberra): the Latin American Institute for

the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders produced Crime

prevention in the context of development {for the UN Havana Congress 1990:

and the Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the

Treatment of Offenders produced Crucial issues of criminal justice in Asia

(A/CONF.121/UNAFEI) (Funchu, Tokyo, 1985.)

8. The United Nations has just completed the collection of information

from their 4th Survey, which deals with the years 1986 to 1990, thus making

a total of some 21 years of detailed information. Each survey has seen an

increasing number of countries participating, although there are still many

countries which do not return any statistics.

9. The major goal of the 4th survey is to improve knowledge about the

incidence of reported crime and the structure of criminal justice systems,

as a basis for improving the international exchange of information and

cooperation. The specific objectives are first, to determine which data are

generally available in national databases and sccondly, to serve as an

instrument for strengthening cooperation among member states, by setting

the review and analysis of national crime-related data in a broader context.

10. The questionnaire, a copy of which can be obtained from the UN

Crime Branch in Vienna, is divided into 4 sections: Police, Prosecution,

Courts and Prisons. Each section asks questions, not only about the

numbers of people involved, but of the manpower and financial resources

devoted to the particular part of the justice system.

170

Chris Lewis

11. Each section includes a table requesting data for various different

offences. A common classification system is used, which took into account

1S

.the likely availability of statistics within member states. This classification

Intentional and non-intentional homicide (grand total)

Intentional homicide, total, committed and attempts.

Non-intentional homicide

Assaults, total and major

Rape

Robbery

Theft, total and major

Burglary

Fraud

Embezzlement

Drug-related crimes, total, trafficking, simple possession

Bribery and/or corruption

Other (please specify)

12

A summary contents list of the questionnaire is:

Police:

A. Manpower resources

B. Financial resources

C. Crimes recorded nationally by offence

D. Crimes recorded in largest city

Prosecution:

A

Manpower resources

Financial resources

Number prosecuted by offence

E

Number prosecuted by age/sex

International Studies and Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice

171

Courts:

Types of courts

Total convicted and acquitted

Total convicted by type of sentence

Manpower resources

Financial resources

Numbers convicted by offence

QmmoOw»

Numbers convicted by age/sex

Prisons:

Category of prisoner

Average time spent awaiting trial by offence

Average length actually served by offence

Numbers on probation

Numbers on parole

Manpower resources

Prison admissions by offence

Prison populations

S“STQTMmUOwW>

Financial resources

13. After a considerable amount of tidying up work on the database

cassettes of the data are now available. Regional reports on the data were

produced for the UN Crime Congress in Cairo in 1995. Plans are now

being made to continue the data collection into the future so that the 1970-

1990 series can be extended.

INTERNATIONAL VICTIM SURVEYS

14. The United Nations has also taken part in the second victimization

survey in 1992. This was supervised by the Ministry of Justice in the

Netherlands and UNICRI, the UN Research Institute in Rome. A full

account is given in Criminal Victimization : a global perspective in the first

issue of TRENDS, the UNCIJIN Crime and Justice Letter in 1993.

172

Chris Lewis

15. This survey takes as its starting point that crimes recorded by the

official criminal justice agencies such as the police are only a part of the

actual crimes committed. In victim surveys an attempt is made to discover

the full extent of crime: this in turn enables governments to know whether

the extent of reporting to the police is changing. The experience of victim

surveys has been that the propensity to report crime varies from country to

country and over time, as well as by offence, residential status, age, sex,

lifestyle, and, to some extent the development profile of a country.

16. The first survey covered 15 countries (see van Dijk, Mayhew and

Killias, Experiences of crime across the world. Deventer, Kluwer, 1990) The

second survey comprised 11 developed and 12 developing countries as well

as 6 from Eastern Europe. The countries involved were:

1989 Survey

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Finland

Indonesia

France

Federal Republic

Japan

Netherlands

of Germany

Norway

Poland

Spain

Switzerland

UK

USA

1992 Survey

Austria

Canada

Finland

Belgium

Italy

Japan

Netherlands

New Zealand

Sweden

UK

USA

Czechoslovakia

Georgia

Hungary

Poland

Russian Federation

Slovenia

Brazil

Costa Rica

Argentina

Egypt

India

Indonesia

Papua

New Guinea

Philippines

South Africa

Tunisia

Uganda

United Republic

of Tanzania

International Studies and Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice

173

The results of the second survey are published in Understanding Crime :

Experiences of Crime and Crime Control, UNICRI, Rome 1993.

17. The 1992 International Victim Survey used a questionnaire which

obtained responses about crimes against individuals aged 16 years and over.

The questionnaire also identified opinions and attitudes about reporting to

the police, fear of crime, crime prevention and attitudes to punishment.

many difficulties were encountered in attempting to ensure comparability

between diverse national contexts, which required certain methodological

adjustments.

18. In some countrics, the survey was carried out on a national basis, in

others only in major cities. In developed countries, data were collected

using computer-assisted telephone interviewing; in developing countries and

countries of Central and Eastern Europe, by face-to-face interviewing. The

survey was based on a population sample of, on average, between 1,999 and

2,000 respondents in each area surveyed.

19. The type of information obtained by the 1992 survey covered crimes

against clearly identifiable individuals and households, disregarding,

therefore, victimless crimes, such as drug abuse. Perceptions of the latter,

which present important victimization risks to individuals and populations,

may be included in future surveys.

Future of the International Victim Surveys

20. These surveys represent part of a continuous effort to develop the

international and national crime and criminal justice data-base. The results

of the surveys will be put at the disposal of the international community

through publications and database access. The wealth of material collected

merits much further analysis, including data validation, secondary analysis,

testing of criminological theory, and the development of relevant policy

considerations.

Chris Lewis

174

21. Preliminary negotiations are under way regarding a third international

victim survey to be carried out later in the 1990s, which will cover, it is

hoped, some countries not previously involved. An international survey of

crime against retailers has also been carried out.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

PRISON STATISTICS

22. The Council of Europe covers most countries of Western Europe, and,

in the last few years, has extended its membership to include some Eastern

European countries such as Hungary. The Council has, since 1983,

exercised an important role in bringing together statistics for certain aspects

of the Criminal Justice System. The most important of these is their Prison

Information Bulletin.

23. The Prison Information Bulletin and related publications gives

information, inter alia on the prison population per 100,000 general

population, the population of remand and sentenced prisoners per 100,000

general population, the percentage of female prisoners, the percentage of

young prisoners, committals to prison per 100,000 general population by

type of prisoner and an indicator of average time spent in custody.

24. In June 1990, a new project was introduced called Statistique Penale

Annuelle du Conseil de ’Europe. The results of the 1992 enquiry were made

available in September 1993, in Statistique Penale Annuelle du Conseil de

PEurope Enquete 1992, by Pierre Tournier, of CESDIP, Paris, France, who

has been the main worker on this project.

25. This annual enquiry goes very much wider than a collection of tables,

including also commentary on the criminal justice systems of different

countries and noting trends in the figures. The quality of the data received

is examined and useful remarks are made on definitions. Recent changes

in legislation, and administrative changes such as amnesties, etc. are also

noted. Some very useful analyses are made and presented as charts: for

International Studies and Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice

175

example, the suicide rate in prison is shown to correlate positively with the

occupancy rate in prison.

CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS

26. The success of the project to make available prison statistics has

encouraged the Council of Europe to go ahead with a pilot study of the

possible of producing a Sourcebook of European Statistics on more wider

aspects of the Crime and the Criminal Justice System. An expert group

under the chairmanship of Professor Martin Killias of Lausanne has

reported favourably on the feasibility of collecting relevant and comparable

data on crime, prosecutions, courts, prisons, non-custodial penalties,

resources, and recidivism. Professor Killias describes this project in more

detail in the final chapter of this book.

27. The initial strategy of this group has been to define a set of tables, etc.

which, prima facie, secem appropriate for a Euro Sourcebook and to attempt

to compile these tables for a small group of countries, represented on the

expert group. This pilot will then be used to define what common statistics

exist for a larger group of European countries, which could serve for the

same sort of comparative purposes as the prison statistics.

T

i

it

B

SPUCH

k2

3

i

-

i

W

ke

P

%

)

PN

L

%

A

SR

i

5L

ol

i

&)

o

-

ooy

iy

i

%

i

'

it

it

¢4

i

die

f‘

r}

iy

e

i

B

i

B

1

i

bed

i

it

o

i

P

b

i

i

B

&

La

iy

L

b

¥4

B

e

Y

E

g

i

¢

%’”

i

i

i

A

255

%

b

%

5

o

i)

o

2

&

“}

B

e

o

e,

i

Yoty

i

i

1

b

i

&

o

y

e

e

o

i

0

B

e

b

fat}

i

i

7

B

5.

:

iy

5"

i

i ¥

&

i

i

g

&

ie

v

&

3

N

ot

i

i

L

ra

4

o

A

"

;

E.

s

i

=

i

i

L

k

t;

o

o

i

8

%

5

05,3

Gt

o

.

#i

i

bl

1

3

pri)

k2

3

g

4

i

i

Ey

e

=

h&

4

A

3

i

i

7%,

ko

i

o

A

Haiilt

L

vl

3

&

4

%

e

o

G

L

s

ik

ke

il

A

&

54

ey

o

%

I

Ve

o

Ty

3

oy

s

[

£

i

i

!

e

e

8

A4

.

e

K

b

b

i3 e

ol

Mr

5

Iy

st

£

)

gt

el

L

e

o

4

o

i

i iy

)

il e

e

4

i

4

E

k't

o

B

s

b

s

i

e

Sl

e

5

1

ki

(o

Al

%

i3

s

o

or

s

U

N

4

i

S

e

i

&

5

o

i

7%

‘s

st

i

i

o

s

e

v

2

FVu

i

P

»

Sy

iy

53

s

3

e

1;;3,

r

-

it

(;

2

i

o

4

s

i

L

B

o

o

e

g

&

HE

0

24

o

e

o

b

P

£

A

24

qos

3

i

i

o

i

Y

b

#f

o

)

bt

i

g

I

>

T

¥

4

i

i

.

N

ki

i

-

i

4

i

y;

5

i

s

"~

5

,};2

)

:&

i

o

o

i

.

.

i

=

2

i

b

.

e

i

i

o

5

i

bt

)

e

58

5

ke

e

i

i

i

(e

e

0

h

]

ey

é?e

3

b

b

bl

i

v

e

o

o

-

it

P

T

s

[

¥4

e

"

%

el

Ei

o

i

(4

e

b

g

5

fid

-

e

i

3"

R

o

International Comparison of Crime

and Criminal Justice Statistics

Max M. Kommer'

Introduction

In 1937 the Dutch criminologist prof. W.A. Bonger wrote an extensive

state-of-the-art article on crime statistics, in which he expressly discussed

the subject of international criminal statistics (Bonger, 1937). At that time,

he could look back at over 50 years of attempts in this area, and he had to

admit that these fifty years had not resulted in much progress. Since then,

another 50 years have amply passed, but it is questionable if he would come

to other conclusions, could he look back again.

In this paper, I want to shortly tackle three major problems of inter-

national comparison of crime statistics, and then suggest some practical

ways to deal with them. I will restrict myself to what one could call the

"classic’ statistics (police and criminal justice statistics), and leave out

international crime surveys and self-report studies. The latter offer some

advantages over the classic ones, but have their specific disadvantages as

well. Discussing them in this paper too would not really clarify things.

1. Problems

Anybody who has ever tried to compare the crime level or reactions to

crime in one country with that or those in one or more other countries by

using the official crime or criminal justice statistics must at least have

1

The author is acting head of the Research Team on Legislation and Administration of

Law, Research and Documentation Centre, Minist

of Justice.

Address: RDC, PO-box 20301, NL-2500 EH Den Haag, The Netherlands

178

Max M. Kommer

encountered three major problems (apart from securing the statistics at all).

These problems are:

-

incompatibility of national crime statistics

-

different criminal law/criminal justice procedure

-

different criminal justice systems

1.1 Incompatibility of National Statistics

Suppose that we want to perform a relatively uncomplicated task, name-

ly ranking a number of countries by their murder-rate, i.e. the number of

intentional homicides per 100.000 capita. Suppose that we also may call

ourselves the proud owners of the official crime statistics of these countries

(One could, for instance, go through the sources listed in appendix 1 for

an impression of what that would mean). What could, then, be easier?

About everything — apart from ranking the same countries by their

burglary rate, perhaps. First we will have to make sure that the statistics

cover the same period, and preferably the whole country we think they

refer to.? We then have to find out if the statistics are broken down to the

level we need. In the case of murder it is very probable that we will find a

separate category — but it may turn out not to be separately enough.’ Once

we have taken this hurdle, we come to the tricky part. Are like cases

treated likewise in the different countries? How, for instance, are euthana-

sia and illegal abortions registered? Are they registered as murder in one

2 This is not always the case. From my Dutch background I would be inclined to see

England, Wales and Scotland as a unity, as well as the United States. We all know,

however, that there are no British crime statistics, and I am still puzzled by the fact that

‘Waco (Texas) announced plans to reduce its crime rates by neglecting to reports some

of its violent crimes to the FBI’ (Texas Monthly, january 1980, cited in Carley, 1981, p.

1) - I thought that this was only done by the Dutch police in some cities with respect to

bicycle-thefts.

In the Dutch official statistics the category ‘murder’ has for many years included com-

pleted as well as attempted homicides and manslaughters. This implicated a 10 time

higher number than would have been the case had attempts been excluded. As a matter

of fact, in the 1990 HEUNI Expert Group report on the third UN Crime Survey, The

Netherlands were ranked number one on homicide (table 1, p. 54), precisely for this

reason (apparently the authors overlooked a remark to this effect made on the question-

naire).

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

179

country, and not at all in another? Are cases registered by the label given

by the police, the prosecutor or the judge?’

I do not think there is any need to elaborate on this point any further.

We all know the pitfalls, and we all know there is no one way to avoid

them apart from being very, very careful.

1.2 Differences in Criminal Law / Criminal Justice Procedure

Though we may assume that in our quest for truth about murder rates

we will not be hindered by trivialitics as murder not being a crime in one

or more countries, we might come across this problem when we shift our

attention to less serious crimes. For instance, in some countries shop lifting

or damaging of goods may (under circumstances) be defined in criminal

law as a misdemeanour instead of a crime. In the case of murder, we may

(at least seen from the Dutch perspective) find the opposite: acts that are

not considered criminal (like abortion), or that may - under conditions -

not be prosecuted (like euthanasia), may be defined as murder in other

countries. Now it would seem quit easy to locate differences like these, and

to control for them, but in practice it is not. You would need at least three

things: a thorough knowledge of the (judicial) language of all countries you

want to compare’, figures that are broken down to the level you want and

lots of time.

As long as it comes to crime statistics it would scem that differences in

criminal justice procedure can not be of too much influence on the figures.

But what if the police have extended discretionary power in one country

(opportunity principle), and very little in another (legality principle)? Then

again figures on less serious crime may be incomparable. The real problem,

however, arises when we wish to know more about how cases are dealt with

in different countries. Criminal law and criminal justice procedure do differ

4

It is common practice for the Dutch police to label a failure to stop your car when

summoned to do so by a police officer as an attempted murder if the police officer has

had to jump aside in order not to be hit. Most of these cases are eventually dealt with as

the small traffic offence they are in essence.

I would, for instance, not know what type of offence is meant by the category "child

destruction" in the England and Wales criminal statistics, especially where "infanticide"

is included in homicide, and "procuring illegal abortion" a separate category.

180

Max M. Kommer

markedly, and that makes it very hard to compare outcomes at higher levels

of the criminal justice system. Take for instance the "dismissal" or the

"transaction” by which a Dutch prosecutor can decide to deal with a case.

Do they compare to something more or less the same in other countries?

1.3 Different Criminal Justice Systems

Not only may the possible outcomes on different levels in the criminal

justice procedure be incomparable, the structure of the criminal justice

system itself may differ in such a way as to make comparisons very difficult

to make. This can already be the case at the police level. Not a few coun-

tries have more than one police force (for instance organized at federal,

state and local level, or one reporting to the civil authorities, one reporting

to the judicial ones and one reporting to the military), and it is not necessa-

rily so that the results of their efforts are combined in one statistical source.

At the prosecution level there is of course the difference between sys-

tems that include a separate prosecution service for all or specific offenses,

and the ones that do not. And then there are the different ways the courts

are organized, with various competencies. In the best case this can make

it quite difficult to find the figures you are interested in, or to gather them

from diverse sources. In the worst it makes it quite impossible to compare

criminal procedures in a straightforward statistical way.’

6

Just as a matter of interest: problems like these can also be encountered when comparing

national statistics over different years. In the Netherlands, between 1990 and 1991, a

number of small traffic offenses were transferred from criminal law to administrative law.

This was done gradually, in the sense that the new procedures were first implemented in

only one court district and, subsequently, over a period of two years in the other ones.

The transfer brought with it some new jurisdictions for the police, a new organization for

the administration of the sanctions, completely different roles for the prosecutor and the

judge and a new type of sanction. Statistics on the new system are not yet available, but

in appendix 2 the results are presented of an evaluation study, comparing the outcome

of the criminal law procedure with that of the administrative procedure. I find them very

illustrative of the problems I mentioned here.

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

181

1.4 Conclusion

Efforts to compare crime and/or criminal justice statistics may be hazar-

dous to your health, or at least to your good temper. Even if you can draw

upon reliable national material’, there are a lot of problems to overcome.

You need to have a lot of background information on the statistics them-

selves, on the criminal laws, the criminal justice procedures and the

criminal justice systems you want to compare. And you will have to find a

way to present your findings in a way that they are accessible to a public

that will be very interested, but not too willing to spend much time on

subtleties: policy makers and politicians.

2. Solutions

Taking into account the character of the problems discussed, it looks at

least pretentious to propose solutions. That I still dare to do so has a lot

to do with the fact that I am not the first and only one who did. In fact, all

the ideas I had (and some more) when I first set out to survey the field,

proved to be at least 60 years late.

The suggestions I have to offer can be divided into three categories:

restriction, standardization and explication. I will discuss them in the fol-

lowing paragraphs.

2.1 Restriction

If national crime figures in general can not be compared, one might be

wise to restrict oneself to those figures or types of comparisons that can,

or that at least would yield a not too distorted picture.

An example of such a restriction was introduced in paragraph 1.1, where

I suggested that we restrict ourselves - for the sake of argument - to mur-

7 Of course, you should know about reporting procedures - and preferably not the official

but rather the actual ones.

Max M. Kommer

182

der. This suggestion was also made by Bodio in 188 and Zahn in 1925% the

idea behind it is that there is a limited number of crimes of which the

definition will not differ too much between countries, and that by their

seriousness or number can be regarded as valid indicators of the crime

situation in the respective countries. Of course, as I indicated by taking this

example, there still are a lot of problems to cope with, but restriction has

the advantage that it makes it easier to implement some of the other solu-

tions that may help to overcome those.

A second type of restriction is in the type of comparison. If differences

in criminal law and criminal justice systems make it impossible to compare

crime or intervention levels, it may still be possible to compare changes

over the years: does crime rise (or fall) at a higher or lower rate in one

country than in another. Of course it would be necessary to also have an

indication of the possible sources of changes in the rates compared; it

would be easier to provide these if the number of crimes compared would

be restricted too.

Just for the record: using dynamic in stead of static comparisons was

already suggested by Starke in 1888, in his report to the Institut Internatio-

nal de Statistique.

2.2 Standardization

One of the best ways to secure comparability is to standardize the things

you want to compare and the instruments you use for comparison. Here

again we can go back at least a century to find suggestions in this sense.

Bodio (1891) proposed to draw up a comparative terminology, and Yvernes

(1911) put forward the idea to devise a uniform outline for national crime

statistics.

Both suggestions are, in my opinion, quite valuable. A comparative

terminology would make official statistics a lot easier to read, even for

polyglots. What is even more, it would free the national statistical institutes

from the ’obligation’ to translate part of their publications in English (or

whatever language would seem most suitable), and the readers from the

8 All references to publications from the period 1888 - 1937 are based on Bonger, 1937.

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

183

guesswork that is sometimes needed to understand what exactly is meant

by the result. It is the more interesting where formulating it seems quite

feasible, and at the same time would force those who set out to do so to go

quite deep into a lot of the (definitional) problems I mentioned above.

Designing a uniform outline is, in itself, probably the most tempting

proposal of all. It seems, however, an illusion that it will ever be adopted

by more than a few countries - that, from then on, would have to cope with

a considerable problem when comparing their national statistics over the

years before and after adoption. Still, if such an outline could be devised

for a limited number of offenses and stages in the criminal justice process,

national statistical institutes might be prepared to add a ’uniform crime

report’ to their range of publications - especially if they knew that a consi-

derable number of other countries would do the same.

A very drastic level of standardization was suggested by Gini and Spal-

lanzi in 1931. They proposed to fix a general judicial content of a limited

number of specific crimes, so as to make comparison easier. It is not

difficult to think of a number of objections that could be brought forward

against this idea. It would, in the most extreme case, mean that national

criminal law should be adapted to fit statisticians needs, which is not very

likely to happen. In less extreme cases it would mean that in the whole

process of registration and reporting on the national level these specific

crimes should be isolated from crimes that under prevailing law would be

considered the same. This would be very impractical, and at least produce

a lot of extra work.

2.3 Explication

A combination of elements of the two former categories, together with

a new approach, was suggested by De Roos in 1927. He proposed to draw

up a manual for ideal national crime statistics and to give guidelines for the

best ways to interpret these for international comparison. A manual, of

course, would be part of an effort to standardize (and probably to restrict),

but giving guidelines for interpretation is an interesting extension. It would

be very helpful to all who want to take comparing national statistics as a

184

Max M. Kommer

serious matter, but I doubt if it would do much against the inexpert (ab)use

of statistics by newspapers, policy makers and politicians. Manuals and

guidelines tend to be left unread by practically all people who would bene-

fit most from them, and there is no reason to assume that in this case it

would be otherwise.

Still, it would probably be one of the most practical things to do,

especially where preparing the guidelines would bring with it a very intense

confrontation with all the problems one can meet, and might thereby

stimulate to think of new solutions. In fact, in 1929 De Roos proposed yet

another solution, that I would be inclined to see as a first step towards

general guidelines: let national experts write annexes to national statistics,

giving an interpretation of the figures. If this would be done in close con-

tact with national experts from other countries, it would help enormously

in providing the material on which guidelines could be based.

2.4 Conclusion

All these solutions have been proposed before, some more than a cen-

tury ago. Does that mean that they are impractical? I do not think so, at

least not of all of them. In fact restriction, standardization and explication

are at the basis of the Uniform Crime Reports used in the USA to com-

pare crime figures over more than 50 states, each having their own national

statistics, laws and criminal justice systems. This shows that each of these

ways is at least partly possible, though it may be a hard going.’

3. The Way Ahead

Apart from the mere existence of the Uniform Crime Reports, there are

two reasons why I think we should not let the failures of the past cast a

shadow over the future. Firstly, a proposal that included most of the solu-

9 When devising international comparability of crime and criminal justice statistics, it would

be quite unwise not to draw on the experiences with the UCR. That will probably guard

us from both over-optimism and needless pessimism.

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

185

tions mentioned above was part of a report that was accepted by the con-

gress of the International Statistical Institute in 1937, and then sent to most

European governments. It is most probable that at that time their interests

were not really in international comparisons of any statistics, apart from

arms-production. Maybe, therefore, we should not conclude that all these

suggestions led to failures, but rather that they were never implemented. Of

course I know that since 1937 a lot of work has been done, or at least has

been the subject of ongoing discussion. The Council of Europe at least

seems to have a long going tradition of organizing workshops and estab-

lishing expert committees on the subject. Inevitably, this must lead to some-

thing.

Secondly, over the years technology has reached a level that, in my

opinion, is more suitable for an endeavour as complicated as this one. Tele-

fax and E-mail make direct communication a lot easier, or at least can do

so if organizations involved decide to give their members/employees full

access to them. Equally important, especially when it comes to the presen-

tation of results, is the availability of sophisticated database systems and of

hypertext. Using these media rather than paper would make it a lot easier

to have comments, annotations and explications available at every given

point and moment. They would also be very helpful in dealing with dif-

ferences in breakdown level and in preparing customized' versions of a

global data set.

If we want to go on developing comparable crime and criminal justice

system statistics, there seem to be two things we can learn from the past.

The first is that we can never hope to succeed when the governments

involved do not see the importance of having these statistics readily availa-

ble. Not only will the development be quite expensive in terms of both

financial and human resources, it is also probable that changes will have to

be made to national statistics and procedures. I am not too sure that

national governments will be prepared to support any real efforts in this

field. What, I wonder, would they really benefit from its results? Inter-

national comparisons are currently used by governments only for political

10 Especially: with descriptions and comments in any desired language, and with special

references to the user’s familiar criminal law / criminal justice system.

f

186

Max M. Kommer

goals: showing that their policies are fruitful, but that extra money is nee-

ded in order to prevent the country to become even more criminal than the

other ones. To make these comparisons, they do not need a continuous

production of comparisons, and not even reliable tools for comparing. What

counts is the result, and in the present situation it is not too difficult to go

on looking for an interesting result between a lot of non-interesting (i.e.

politically not useful) ones - who would be able to fight them? Our best

hope, therefore, would be the supra-national bodies, as well as continuous

pressure on national governments.

The second thing that will be needed is an enormous effort from a lot

of people: statisticians, experts on crime and criminal justice, and specialists

in related fields. They must be prepared to set out on a long, uncertain

journey—with little hope of any other reward then their own satisfaction in

having reached yet another problem. After all, what is so pleasant in

making your own national statistics accessible to others, if all you get in

return is the possibility to compare them with those of other countries?

And if you are interested in the comparison itself, why bother to go on

making your own statistics accessible?

187

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

References

Bodio, L.: L’organisation de la statistique pénale en Italie et sur les

difficultés qui sopposent aux comparaisons internationales dans cette

branche de la statistique. In: Bulletin de DInstitut International de

Statistique 1V, 2e Livraison, 1888, p. 165 ff.

Bodio, L.: Rapport sur la statistique judiciaire penale. In: Bulletin de

I'Institut International de Statistique VI, 2¢ Livraison, 1891, p. 122 ff.

Bonger, W. A.: Over criminele statistiek. Een bijdrage tot haar geschiedenis

en haar theorie. In: Tijdschrift voor strafrecht, vol. 48, 1937. Reprinted

in: W. A. Bonger, Verspreide geschriften. Amsterdam, 1950, De Arbei-

derspers.

Carley, M.: Social Measurement and Social Indicators; Issues of Policy and

Theory, London, 1981, George Allen & Unwin.

Gina & Spalmanzi: Sulla comparazione dei dati di Statistica Criminale dei

diversi Stati. In: Bulletin de I'Institut International de Statistique XX VI,

2e Livraison, 1931, p. 567 ff.

Roos, De: Consonnes et voyelles, Communication sur la Statistique crimi-

nelle. In: Bulletin de I'Institut International de Statistique XXIII, 2e

Livraison, 1928.

Roos, De: Rapport de la Commission pour 'étude comparative des statis-

tiques criminelles dans divers pays. In: Bulletin de I'Institut International

de Statistique XXIV, 2¢e Livraison, 1929, p. 567 ff.

Starke, W.: Des ¢lements essenticls qui doivent figurer dans la statistique

criminelle et des moyens de les rendre comparables. In: Bulletin de

IInstitut International de Statistique 1V, 1e Livraison, 1888, p. 69 ff.

188

Max M. Kommer

Yvernés, M.: De la recherche des causes du crime par les procédés statis-

tiques. In: Bulletin de I'Institut International de Statistique XIX, le

Livraison, 1911, p. 270 ff.

Zahn, F.: Internationale Kulturstatistik. In: Bulletin de I'Institut Internatio-

nal de Statistique XXII, 3e Livraison, 1925.

Appendix 1: Some sources

To get an impression of the problems of comparing national statistics,

it would suffice to go through the information on murder as it can be found

in the following sources.

Federal Republic of Germany

Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 1989, pp. 105-108. Wiesbaden, 1990, Bun-

deskriminalamt.

USA

Crime in the United States; Uniform Crime Reports 1989, pp. 7-13.

Washington, DC, 1990, U.S. Department of Justice/FBI.

The Netherlands

Kwartaalbericht rechtsbescherming en veiligheid 90/2, pp. 19-20. Voorburg,

1990, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek.

England and Wales

Criminal Statistics England and Wales, 1988, p. 37. London, 1989, Home

Office.

189

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

Finland

Oikenstilastollinen vuosikirja (Yearbook of Justice Statistics) 1992, pp. 30-

31. Helsinki, 1993, Tilastokeskus.

HEUNI

Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America, p. 54 and p. 189.

Helsinki, 1990, Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control,

affiliated with the United Nations

Appendix 2: comparison of dealing with small traffic offenses under crimi-

nal vs. administrative law: The Netherlands, 1990/91.

190

Max M. Kommer

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

traffic ticket

drop

notice

payment

to police

police level / central collection office

|

impos

reminder

Appeal

payment

to P.P.

sible

et ]

I

granted

not

Open

Payment

Bailiff

granted

]

s

notice

payment

Open

payment

(open)

Open

No

succes

RESULT PER 1.000 CASES AFTER 1 YEAR:

PAID: 940

DROPPED: 20

OPEN: 40

International Comparison of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

191

CRIMINAL LAW

traffic ticket

g

1

drop

to prose-

payment

cutor

police level

drop

to court

payment

80

é

prosecutor’s level

SESSION

]

dismissal

Fine

order to

court level

arrest

QO ='N

x g

R

payment /

Open

police level

impriss.

RESULT PER 1.000 CASES AFTER > 2,5 YEARS:

PAID / SUBSTITUTE IMPRISONMENT: 938

DROPPED: 33

OPEN: 29

a

it

g

e

b

i

o

i

o

i

5

o

e

)

R

b

&

n

it

N,

e

Wi

e

i

¥

o

Lo

§<

B

N7

o

)

P

43

g

%1

9

e

o

(e

Vs

7

b5

3

pRA.

R

g

E

'

B

e

i

i

At

i

%

¥

%

=

0

>

i

5

=

i

g

&

.

"5'4

L

78 47

fla

A

e

0

RS

i

P

ki

%

B

i

it

S, QA

e

o

.

e

&

(i

.

.

3N

e

i

s

Y

S

,%«

o

ke

£

by’

il ‘s‘*f

o

5,

‘/

o

£

(i

)

.

.

e

A

5

S

3

i

i

%

e

i

"

i

5"

5

hid

o

0

7

9

R

&)

PR

A

.

i}

e

’

=

D

4

[

L

i

#)

#

b

Ay

b

X

S,

;?

oA

)

ey

s

A

e

o

e

e

Ry

i

i

3

@

A

e

ik

4

Y

i

PR

b

A

)

s

P

Yo

o

e

i

i

e

4

i

b

&

i

I

5

g

i

%

i

P

By

it

o

B

¢ aeny

&

o

L

Ty

5

b

Lo

2y

i

e

¥y

;

i

W

0

i

e

L

e

%

%

Ll

.

£

o

.

%

g

E

b1

S

S

e

,}!’

B

5

=

e

o

e

£

i

hY

o

it

digte

i

!

.

.

;‘

:'

.

@

i

g

bLi

b

hots

ok

7

Y

o8

¥

e

b

i

A%

i

::

ooy

e

oA

e

¥

P

5 Lt

o

o

L

e

iy

.

‘:;

<

oy

o

&

s

P

I,

8

o

i

el

4

Nl

i

i

-

7,

3

Pl

g

ot

£

.

e

£

i

&

P,

0

s

s

e

o

e

N

:

1o

5

&)

Lt

3

o

SR

4y

4

R

i

i

a4

e

i

o

Tt

i

il

g

-

63

i

s

o

S

ql

3

?:

i

il

0

Al

b

o

E.

{S"ﬁ,

s

i

N

i

]

%

47

i

&

s

b

)

i

ol

o

N

bk

s

e

6

&G

et

E

by

Ja

g

s

A

S

He

g

s

'?t

i

E

)

o

PRV

=

g

ok

&

e

9

i

g3

i)

&t

i

i

i

i

g &

%

ISy

<A

it

b

=

o

e

o

S

i

5

e

hi

it

®

X

e

4

iy,

&

e

bl

s

4

o

F

i

T

i

)

5

g

(4

;;‘,nr

:g

15

34

g

ok

e

i

ke U

i

%

3

0

!

hot

5,

0

b <

s

3

j}?

ot

&

M

e

i

v

g

i

o

(s

13

1

Y

g

i

e

it

I

o

i

e

St

3

et

b

e

5

il

S

v

o

ko

o

it

b

o

5

i

“

TP,

;l

e

bl

i

e

e

PERN

&

i

e

oY

o

%

Kt

i

S

Ve,

,}A

T

e

.

&

4

b

it

A

e

7

h<]

5

g

b4

p

h

e

s

%

o

i

¥

0

3

'

i

iz

3

£

v

A

bor

Sy

s

‘3

:

‘f

g

s

0

i

st

iic

4

4

$

e

1 A

=

o

B

SR

b

ms

o

iy

el

88

i

£y

o

e

i

i

.

/

%

Gig

By

&

g

s

thad

i

2 ant

¥

a0

i

g

{f{{f’w

e

ke

2

b

e5s

’;

o

%

;

o

&

5!

b

b

e

ik

i

[

i

%

.

i

=y

o

o)

<

9

%,

2

iE:

i

g2

%

R

i

e

&

-

b

B

15

o

A

o

i

2

,_‘;

¥

Ay

K]

§

Ay

X

B

st

.

495

o

o

g

5

Bigich

e

X

s

.

i

%

5

o

%

&

g

i

¢

4

&

%

s

A1

oy

[

ke

8

£

&

i

9

it

i

5

s

5

i

9

=

ey

y

i

A

e

:

i

'e

.

i

R

e

i

¥

i,

-

e

e

i

b

§

i

o

3

"

o

¥

G

-

et

i

.

g7

i

vl

b

e

s

’:

P

L

fch

g

o

AR

e

o

e

h

i

WYy

(s

55

)

.

5

Bt

s

L

Pe

L

o

b

oM

i

e

e

s

¥

2

4

fa

i

3.

o

3t

E

i

g

T

e

P

i

i

s

s

i

i

o

i

3

%

6

;

)

G

o

i3

o

s

.

B

o

i

s

Pl

o

-

i

2

i

"

o

o ]

L

R

.

S

e

i

i

B

o

e

5y

A

ne

Loy

i

P

iy

fid

=

e

3

o

o

W

ek

Lo

W

&

e

it

£

i

ps

e

.

s

e

8

o

S

1

A

s

,?

£

b

£

b

%

i

i

ke

i

5o

o

=3

B

gt

o

oo

k3

ey

B

5

N

o

i

=

o,

i

o

o

s

g

g

i

e

o

e,

SAT%

peis

.

i

L

£

o

5

i

N

&

&

¢

L

5

g

:

",

v

g

A

bR

i*

s

e

L

i

i

o

s

v 2

3

e

b

=

R

gt

¥

o

A

B

e

il

o)

o

el

i

i

3

g

e

i

.

%

i

e

i

ks

i

:

s

A0

ik

g

g

A

6

A

i

i

i

1

&

3

i

oF

iy

s

s

2

Fa

R,

i

5

ey

?

&

&

.

i

4oL

E

.

P

5

e

:‘:’

Sl

B

£

.

£

5

1

&

:

e

by

e

i

e

i

A

%

e

o

i

i

o

&

=

i

=

e

e

%

s

sty

a4

Iri e

2

£

iy

i

il

o

.

"

o

b

i

5

o

T

ﬁfg

i

=

i

Sae

s

i

pa

e

g

ey

i

L

g

£

i

A e

e

Ry

o

&

2

5

&

5

7

e

s

:

£

ﬁl.

a0

%

s

g

it

b

g

j

i

o

-3

o

i

g

e

?

&

5

g

Gt

i

;

%

,x

R4

)

i

';

s

el

5

ol

i

o

g

o

e

e

[

3

;

%5

i

b

d

e

g

s

i

i

ok

S

s

oh

=

2

&

0

i

P

3

i

2

i

Lo

(!

o

R

X

5

0

e

g

E

i

&

R

o

dr

oot

ik

o A

i

b

&

)

?

¥

44

&

s

o

i

o

o

-

&

5

&

e

£

E

,‘::

b,

e

S

:

i

o

35

s

s

i

e

5.

!’

)

‘;:4

e

@

o

%

i

(R,

A

o

h

Pt

gk

ey

o

e

)

‘«

o

ey

o

i

S

s

fa

o

4

Ref

his

:

i

v

;:

AR

e

o i

(s

s

&

.

b

3

i

i

:

o

s

jisnd

%t

o

§

A

i

=

i

R

o

International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality

Jean Gratia

The first question we need to address is what we are trying to measure

with criminal statistics. For the criminologist, the question is how far crime

penetrates into the life of society. More pragmatically, it is how we can

portrait, with as precise a scientific instrument as we can obtain, a picture

of society in which crime is the main agent.

International crime statistics are somewhat like photographs taken from

a satellite. Such photographs provide neither the detail nor the beauty of

an aerial snap but nevertheless give objects an extraordinary scale and are

extremely important in such activities as military operations. In short the

criminologist needs basic information as a painter needs colours. Such

information is found by counting and we first must consider the question,

what is it that we should count.

Different Techniques of Crime Measurement

There are three possible ways of measuring crime:

using police data

using data from victims

using data on known criminals

Each of these approaches the problem in a different way, uses different

techniques of measurement, and different measuring instruments. Tradi-

tionally, the first measures of crime were those obtained on the basis of the

work of the Criminal Investigation Department; that is, statistics of known

criminals, who were apprehended and dealt with in some way.

194

Jean Gratia

Since the second world war, new techniques of appraisal have emerged:

on the one hand, the victimization inquiries, which are practised today with

some success: on the other hand the self-confession inquiries, which are

based on interviews with the criminals and the offenders themselves in front

of a criminologist. Self-confession is a recent introduction in criminology

and is hardly widespread: it still has to prove its worth.

Victimization Enquiries

Victimization enquiries were devised in the USA by Reiss and Ennis in

the mid-1960s under presssure from a commission of enquiry on crime,

whose chairman was dissatisfied with the statistics placed at his disposal.

Today they work very well as instruments relying on the country’s

population rather than on police machinery, because whereas victims are

numerous, they have no really representative organizations at their disposal:

they cannot be questioned as such.

It is therefore the mass of a given territory’s inhabitants that must be

questioned. Fortunately for the community but not for the enquirer, the

victims are like the gold nuggets in the sand of a river; isolating them

requires time and effort. If one takes France as an example; official

statistics refer to 3,831,000 crimes and offences in 1992 for a population of

56.7 million inhabitants, or a stated offence per 15 inhabitants. But in the

course of the inquiries, victims must declare themselves and that is a

weakness. Answers are very subjective; they are also prone to errors: they

do not follow official definitions: many people will interiorise the fact they

are a victim and deny to themselves unpleasant memories.

The main aim of victimization studies is to indicate the true number of

criminal acts without the compulsory filter of police forces. We know that

police, for numerous reasons ignore some crimes: some of these crimes are

minor offences such as acts of vandalism or petty crime: others are more

serious such as rape or incest. This source of information is on the other

hand entirely focused on the victim and, as a consequence, overlooks a

whole range of offences with no specific victim: these include offences such

195

International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality

as shoplifting from large store, vandalism of public buildings: defrauding

the railways. Neither would we expect offences to be reported which are

usually only discoverd by the police themselves: for example, drug-taking.

Self-confession Investigations

These use the criminals and the offenders themselves as the source of

information. There are of course a great many criminals; they are at least

as numerous as offences committed or attempted, but numerous authors

can slip into a single creature of flesh and blood. This latter remark is

important because it happens rather frequently that the same individual

commits several, even several hundred offences. Therefore, it is not possible

to count the total number of criminals.

At the most, one may know those who are caught. These can be a pre-

cise source of information when they are interrogated in prison or else-

where, in the course of self-confession inquiries. One will immediately

understand that this manner of obtaining information is somehow difficult

to implement and it will be added, to stress the line of the criticism, that

their partiality is such that one may wonder how real the information col-

lected can be. Nevertheless, these inquiries give us information on a field

of observation which is indeed limited, but extremely accurate; it is there-

fore an instrument of measurement which is not be neglected, in particular

in the field of behaviour sanctioned by penal law, but which does not lead

to the production of an identifiable victim and can therefore not be assesses

by the device of victimization inquiries.

The Criminal Investigation Department Statistics

In this way, victimization inquiries and self-confession inquiries open, in

theory at least, on spaces which are boundless, or near boundless. But, in

reality, although they allow the writing of some case studies limited both in

space and in time, they have never permitted a general and regular meas-

urement of criminality. This role, continous in time and space, is therefore

196

Jean Gratia

carried out by the instrument for measuring criminality which is the Crimi-

nal Investigation Department statistics in nearly every nation of the world.

The basic function for criminology has always been fulfilled from the

procedures intended for the judiciary power. In any case it was probably

never set up with the aim of contributing to the criminological work, but

with an operational purpose to direct the police action.

International Criminal Statistics Today

The UN has already studied the subject with an international vision. Its

personnel and its computers have stored a multitude of data supplied by

member states. But they soon revealed themselves ill-assorted according to

the particular area of the globe being considered. And that is why some

years ago, the UNO presented a first survey on the state of crime in the

world, by limiting itself to general considerations through a lack of as

standardised gauge. This was a wise decision in view of the lack of

homogeneous data.

Similarly, INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization,

which has at its disposal a strong network of exchange of information

between policemen, set up, during the 1970s, a statistical collection device

in member countries (c. 150) on the basis of common definitions. This

system rests today on simple and not very constraining rules unanimously

accepted in 1976 by the Organization’s General Meeting. But, paradoxically

data gathered in that fashion are not in the least meant to establish

comparisons between the countries by reason of the definitions of

punishable actions, differing according to the various legislations and, it

could be added, because of the diversity of counting methods. For all that,

INTERPOL’s criminal statistics are the only ones to be kept internationally

according to a common norm. They are regularly published and are

accessible to criminologists. The latest publication, for 1991, showed that

over two-thirds of member countries had not only agreed to these statistics

but had actually produced them.

International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality

197

These commendable actions on the part of the international organiza-

tions arouse nevertheless the scientific dissatisfaction of the entire world’s

criminologists whereas the the developed countries - and even some others -

have rather satisfactory internal instruments at their disposal. Therefore, it

does not seem impossible within a reasonable period to create one or

several universal, or at least semi-universal instruments for measuring

crime.

Doctor Kube, of the German BKA, recently stated in the International

Review of Criminology and Technical Police (April 1992) that:

it is the task of the EEC’s national research and statistics services to

devise common directives concerning police criminal statistics and to

publish and analyse periodically data relating to criminality.

A Field of Observation in Keeping with our Time

Since the most ancient civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, counting

and taking a census have been tasks which are a matter for the scribes or,

more prosaically, the civil servants who have succeeded them. So, apart

from disputing the principle of sovereignty, international instruments ought

not to question, in their very existence, the internal devices of the States.

In other words, national and international instruments must not exclude one

another. An international vision must simply be obtained by broadening the

permitted sphere of observation inside the country.

One can as well say that this field of observation is not the real crimi-

nality nor even the known criminality, but rather the treated criminality.

Indeed, a great number of statistical systems do not retain the least serious

offences within the known criminality (for example, France does not classify

fines) nor the offences which will not be the subject of a procedure aimed

at the judiciary power because of the attitude of the victims helped by

policemen who do not wish any traces of them kept.

198

Jean Gratia

Moreover police recorded crime statistics, in general, reflect the

characteristics of the administrative system for their collection and we

should recognise this. For example, recent years have seen a growth in

police initiatives which make it easier to report crimes, for example,

through the growth of telephones and computers and better welcoming

services. These factors certainly make police crime statistics an imperfect

instrument for assessing criminality, but nevertheless these are the best we

have, because they are the closest to reality.

The Counting

One can count the criminal or the offending facts which have been

registered by the police; one can also count those which have been

elucidated, solved, resolved ... It is the basis of the criminal statistics.

Accounting the authors and even the victims could also be added. It is

nevertheless difficult to obtain an accountancy of the victims from the

police simply because police look for the offenders ... not for the victims.

With a luxury of detail regarding the criminals, statistics change into an

operational analysis of criminality which allows a more efficient fight

against crime that makes the investment worthy. The description of the

victims does itself only bring about criminological satisfaction and does

hardly contribute to police action.

=

The offenders. It is here that the relevance of the device will appear

because there can be an unlimited number of classifications. It will be

possible to anticipate the age group, sex, socio-professional categories

of the implicated persons or even indicate the judicial means used

(measures of custody, control by a doctor, presence of a counsel ...)

- The victims. It will finally be possible to count and even classify them

also. This said, statistics have a price and these data being of less

interest to the police, the financing of this part of the statistical

instrument shall probably have to be sought outside Criminal Investiga-

tion Department powers.

International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality

199

The Index

To classify crimes and offences, France uses 106 indices plus a "various

non specified" category. This is both a little and a lot. Little because it is

not possible to compile a register within a unit of offences provided for in

the French Code of Criminal law ... and the other texts of the law. A lot,

because the imputation at the initial stage of collection carried out through

the 107 indices by the police, requires a certain skill. That is however a

reasonable option if one wants to avoid a too rough picture of criminality.

It must be stressed that in international applications, the number of indices

must not be excessive so that it may be adjusted to local legislations. Of

course, the indices must first be gathered under headings which group

themselves in categories. The latter must be a number below ten. In France,

the choice remains every classic; today one distinguishes:

thefts

economic and financial offences

crimes and offences against persons

offences in the matter of drugs

offences against the alien police

destruction, degradation and damage of property

other crimes or offences

These seven categories correspond to the present centres of interest.

Besides a short time ago, the last four categories were regrouped under the

hardly enlightening label, it must be acknowledged of "drugs, public peace

and regulations".

The Accounting Units

In France, statistics of facts noted by the services of the CID represent

the criminality denounced by both the victims in their own name and by the

police on behalf of the whole community. It must, however, be specified

that the contraventions remain outside the field of statistical observation

because the offender is neither a criminal nor an offender: he perpetrates

200

Jean Gratia

acts which are indeed antisocial, but which are not perceived as a source

of insecurity.

The statistics’ starting points are the facts of crimes or offences

recounted in the procedure intended for the judiciary powers. By

convention, the accounting unit is proper to each index: in the case of

murder, it is the victims who are counted and not the crimes themselves

(one crime may cause several victims). On the contrary, for receiving stolen

goods, it is not the number of objects received which serves as an

accounting unit, but in fact the established procedure for this offence. It is

therefore always the socially sought information which must be used as an

accounting unit.

These French examples draw attention to the conventional aspect of

statistics. At an international level, one must also integrate conventions

relating to the accounting units. It is illusory to compare statistics which

have not been prepared according to the same norm, even when the defini-

tions of the facts are the same.

The guide of statistical methodology used in France specifies for each

index what the accounting unit is; such a document is indispensable to

make our national statistics scientifically acceptable. The same would be the

case for international statistics.

The Collecting

If the accounting units have to be the same, the technical methods of

collection need not necessarily be uniform. This is indeed the case in

France where two collecting techniques co-exist without prejudicing the

final product; one is entirely centralised (that of the National Gendarmerie)

and the other largely decentralised (that of the National Police). For all

that, France is a country where the administrative fabric is of a rather

centralised type, although it is less so nowadays than some thirty years ago:

collecting in the shortest time is therefore unquestionably made easier.

International Prospects for Statistics of Criminality

201

The Future

If an international device was put into place, it should also quickly process

information so that a true analysis of criminality could be carried out, not

only by university criminologists who do not integrate time constraints, but

also by the police who have to fight crime in real time.

Therefore, two functioning hypotheses can be presented: Either a Euro-

pean Bureau defines the rules, ensures the collecting and redistributes the

information, or an assembly of experts defines the rules and agrees to

exchange data mutually ... and quickly. In both cases, periodicity has to be

defined. This second hypothesis is the easiest to set up immediately. It even

seems that numerous countries view it favourably.

g

g

o

e

o

\‘

B

4&1{

i

=

.

L

t:2

St 3

-

5

&

t

&

i

fis

3

%

s

(X%

o

(%

el

i

i

9

i

o

i

&

T

i

Iy

0

}," s

b

i

B

i

Bl

i’

e

s

5

fis

H

A

o

5

1y

o

v

o

Ll,’

5

L

4R

R

i

o

b

4

s

L)

i

i

ﬁ}%‘

iy

.

!

¥

¢ g

o

2

Sder®

r

L

[

4

e

e

s

H

o

o

SN 3

gt

i

bl

it

i

%

s

IE

oy

et

Vi

g

ey

e

i

5

)yéj‘

>

5,

;

gl

'3

fame

3

i

i b

W

i

i

A

g

-

i

.

hl

b

o,

I

e

il

i

e

5

Mé’?

i

e

'5{:”

it

s

it

.

e

i

M

i

1’

o

:

b

e

i

&

i

&

Y

s

i

¥

gt

ey

i

i

N1k

E'5

"

i3

al

oy

o

O

v

g i

5,

e

580

g

Esy

o

’bé% b

el

i

a0

i1

i

s

e b

:

s

gy

74

i

i

i

phd

iy

7

i

.

i

ol

i

LR

o

W

S

o

)

i

b

A

N

(i}

e

il

e

Ao

£

i

b

by

.

2

o

&

g

ey

B)

N

i

i

E

=

2

o '%f

§.

-

£

Gl

b

3

i

¥

£

i

o

s

%

s

i

b

Ll

-

i

0%

s

i

o

ot

o

®

i

i

o

E

v

ﬁg«,

P

o

fo

A

B

P

.

Taes

%

Pt

&

B

b

5

b

.

i

A

o

{5

has,

g

T

b

A

15

i

o

i

g

R

ol

o

o

iy

%

i

7

e

[na

i

2

é)';‘

i

2

e

K

¢

fiad

a0

¥,

i

e

2

B

ok

4

Ra s

K

b

e

e

g

e

Vs

A

N

4

b

g

g

;

i

£

it

5

iy

B

e

o

ok

it

&

:‘

b

By

s

i

”

g

Bt

o

i

|

i

10

5

,5:

.

o

o

S

.

e

o

&

e

L

3

e

-

o

e

%

£

i)

ot

i

ot

o

e

D

P

2

ALy

=

&y

i)

i

ory

%

ot

A

¥

o

i

e

.

i

}‘s

o

7

¥

o

S

S

A

b

it

et

42

!

8

i)

N

b

B

%

o 05

s o

)

I 5

€

ik

o

i

P

b

i

o

e

it

(8

e

)

e

L7

P

S

5

§

A

-

i

)

Uy

st

ot

ay

e

pi

(9

Sy

A

2]

i

=y

.

ol

Sy

i

%

5

¥

¥,

et

el

5

i

i

o

.

.

.

L

%i’s

s

"

i

o

i

e

o

/i

&

!

Ay

3

5

.

%

[

R i

[

o

i

B

)

A

%

o

e

o

i)

5

el

Hod

ol

0

s

)

&

b

R

:%?

&

e

5

i

z

i

i

i

s

ﬂ:

B

i

il

&

s

s

s

Hid

e

o

i

"

!

L

o

s

i

i

J

g

b

8

B

£

o

o)

Bt

iy

¥

oY

28

5

£

ik

i

8

o

.

¢

0

L

55

Vi

P

2y

g

s

%

N

g2

e

it

it

e

£

g

ot

W

o

X

o

e

.

o

A

i

S

g

e

o

)

ik

4

o5

o

Yt

£

by

Ty

.

A0

"

o

&

e

.

o

Lot

o

e

o

»

i

e,

i3

b

2

s

'i

:

12-‘%%

'

ok

5

o

i

L

2]

¥

g

A,

b

e

¥

W

e

%

5

S

oy

o

P

v

.

Fd

[

e

o

e

el

e

-

.

o

s

%

ig\k

s

s

g

e

2

Bl g

o

!

&

0

oA

s

i

i

o

ety

s

i

LA

i

EoAsh

b/

The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project

Martin Killias

1. Background

Interest in comparative criminology is as old as criminology itself.

Tocqueville was sent to America by King Louis-Philippe in 1831/32 to learn

what he could about the American prison system. At the same time,

Quetelet started his interregional and international statistical comparisons.

Indeed, one might suspect that interest in comparative rescarch was greater

at that time than later in the history of criminology. Since data collection

in the field of criminal justice started in Western Europe early in the 19th

Century, particularly after the Restoration in France of 1815, Quetelet and

his colleagues had few time series to analyse. They were left with cross-

sectional data as the only relevant material available. Given the absence of

surveys and studies based on police or court files at that time, these early

criminologists were virtually obliged to turn to international and/or

interregional statistical comparisons.

With this focus of research, they had to struggle with all the difficulties

and pitfalls of comparative research

which many researchers have

encountered and criticized ever since. It is interesting to note that criticisms

that valid comparisons across jurisdictions are virtually impossible given the

many differences in legal definitions, reporting and recording practices, are

about as old as the earliest writings in comparative criminology. Already in

1832 - Quetelet’s main works were first published in 1830 and 1832 - a

Geneva biologist, Alphonse de Candolle, came up with most of the

criticisms we have been familiar with ever since. These difficulties and the

resignation they have provoked may have contributed to the relative scarcity

of international comparative data in criminal justice, compared to other

fields such as public health, the economy, public finance etc. Moreover,

judging by the scepticism of many published reviews towards the recent

Martin Killias

204

international victimization surveys and self-report studies, it may be fair to

say that critical reservation is the prevailing attitude today towards

international research among most criminologists.

This general reservation may do as much harm to criminology as

uncritical use of questionable data. If our ultimate aim is theory testing, we

have to rely upon data in order to reject hypotheses. Without data, no

theory, no matter how invalid or even absurd it may be, can ever be

disproved. The less data available, the better for the survival of theories! In

this sense, an excessively critical attitude towards data ultimately leads to

uncritical tolerance towards wrong theories.

This pitfall is particularly sad in an area where, more than with national

or local data, policy-related variables could be studied:

Does a lower age of criminal responsibility reduce or foster juvenile

delinquency?

How do sentences affect crime rates?

Does a higher certainty of conviction reduce crime rates? What impact do

policies towards drug use have on drug-related crimes?

All these and many other questions can reasonably be studied only

across jurisdictions with different approaches. Europe’s legal fragmentation

may offer many opportunities for evaluating the effects of different criminal

justice policies. (This, by the way, may be one of the best reasons for not

centralizing Europe’s criminal law and justice systems: too much chance for

innovation and learning may be lost if we abandon diversity in this field.)

But we will not be able to take advantage of this chance without data

measuring the outcomes in countries with different policies.

2. The American Model

Since 1973, the US Department of Justice has published every year the

Sourcebook of Crimminal Justice Statistics, a manual full of tables and graphs

of impressive proportions. This volume contains data on offences recorded

205

The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project

by the police, offenders known to the police, victimization, public attitudes

towards criminal justice related topics, corrections, and some varying topics

of general concern.

The American sourcebook is a great model to follow. As such, it

stimulates interest and efforts at imitation, but may also discourage any

initiative to try something similar elsewhere, in Europe in our case. In this

connection one easily forgets that criminal law and procedure are, in the

United States, matters regulated by the States. This means that many

difficulties which seem to make impossible any European data collection

in this field harass US statisticians just as much. The FBI Index, on which

substantial parts of the US Sourcebook are based, is indeed a compilation

of many items of data collected at local and state level without too much

coordination. If Americans were able to overcome the measurement issues

we are struggling with, we may conclude that efforts in the same direction

in Europe should not be viewed as wasted energy from the beginning.

The admiration for the American sourcebook has already produced a

number of paradoxical consequences in European criminology except

perhaps for colleagues from major research centres with large international

libraries, criminal justice statistics even from neighbouring countries might

be hard to locate, even harder to read and almost impossible to use, given

the lack of familiarity with legal and statistical definitions and collection

routines. In daily work to set a domestic figure against some external data

it is often easier to give a comparative figure from the US rather than from

a bordering country.

This is a most unfortunate situation. It certainly weakens our European

identity, and it does not help us to learn from experiences in other

European countries. As far as reference is made to current innovations in

criminal justice somewhere else in Europe, it is done typically in an

anecdotal manner without any attempt at systematic comparison. To put it

simply: European criminology is rarely comparative and hardly European.

206

Martin Killias

3. The Council of Europe Sourcebook Project

3.1 Organization and Coverage

As a modest attempt to change things in this domain, the Council of

Europe’s Comite Directeur des problemes Criminels (CDPC) approved,

during its plenary session of June 1993, a proposal to charge a small

experts’ group to work out a so-called feasibility study on a data handbook

This experts’ committee started its work in September 1993 and held five

meetings; it presented its final report to the CDPC plenary session in June

1995.

Members of this committee are G. Barclay and C. G. Lewis (England

and Wales), P. Tournier (France), J.-M. Jehle (Germany), I. Kertesz

(Hungary), H. von Hofer (Sweden), M. Kommer (Netherlands), M. Killias

(Switzerland, Chairman), with Wolfgang Rau acting as the secretary.

During the first meeting HEUNI was represented as an observer.

The members of the group agreed that the best way to carry out a

feasibility study was to draft a pilot data handbook covering the seven

countries represented on the group. For these countries members felt they

could, with a reasonable investment in time and resources, gather the

necessary data and indicate all the definitional problems on law and

routines in the handling of statistical data. In order to extend the coverage

an effort was made to gather data from 5 more countries on which some

members felt confident they could locate data with sufficient background

information on definitions and statistical routines, often with helpful

colleagues in the respective countrics. These additional countries are

Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The experts agreed to use data for 1990.

The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project

207

3.2 Areas covered by the project

The sourcebook project covers the usual areas of data collections of this

sort:

a) Police data on known offences

The group established a list of offences to be included. This list

includes:

Homicide (Total and substantive)

Assault

Rape

Robbery (Total and with a weapon)

Theft

of which

Motor vehicle thefts

Bicycle thefts

Burglary

Burglary from a dwelling

Drug offences (Total and trafficking)

In order to make the data as comparable as possible, the group has

opted for a standard definition of all these offences. In addition, tables on

legal definitions give in summary form the essential information on

deviations from the standard definitions for each offence, so that the reader

may be able to relate differences in the figures to definitional variations. In

connection with homicide, for example, this table indicates whether, in

some countries, the concept of homicide (as used in national crime

statistics) includes or not assault with fatal consequences, abortion,

infanticide, euthanasia and help with suicide.

In addition to these definitional tables, the document contains tables on

statistical routines in the process of recording the several offences. These

tables inform, among other things, on the existence or not in the respective

208

Martin Killias

countries of written guidelines how offences are to be recorded and

classified, on the time at which recording occurs (i.e. at the time police

learn about it, or when they have concluded their investigation), on the unit

of counting (i.e. the offence, the victim), on whether or not secondary

(usually minor) offences are recorded, and how serial offences (of the same

type) are counted.

The group hopes that this way of treating the information will allow

potentially important sources of variation to be identified, without bothering

the user with endless comments on national legal definitions or recording

practices.

b) Police data on known suspects

This chapter of tables aims to give, for the same types of offences, the

available information on suspects known to the police. The tables indicate

the proportion of females, minors, and foreign citizens among the suspects.

Again, tables on the definitions (e.g. the age of criminal responsibility)

and statistical routines follow the quantitative tables.

c) Other police data

Additional tables indicate the number of police officers and the

expenditures related to police work.

Tables on the definition of police officers and categories of expenditures

are included in this section.

d) Data on prosecution, courts and sentencing

The Group has established tables on prosecution, courts and sentences.

The table on prosecution includes the total number of cases treated by

prosecutors, the proportion of cases dismissed, the percentage of cases

where the prosecutor himself sentenced the (consenting) defendant (a

209

The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project

common practice in some countries of Europe) and the proportion of cases

brought before a court.

In the section on persons convicted, information is given on convictions

for all offences included in previous sections, with indication of the

percentage under age 18, females, foreign nationals and the rate per

100,000 population.

For all the offences included, detailed information is given, in additional

tables, on the sentences imposed (total, fines, non-custodial sentences,

suspended custodial sentences, unsuspended custodial sentences.)

For the unsuspended custodial sentences and every offence included,

details are given on the length and time served in prison (total, 0-6 months,

6-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5 years and over, life sentences, other

determinate sentences, average sentence length, time served in prison).

Finally, this section contains rates on convictions and unsuspended

custodial sentences (for any of the offence included and for the total) per

100,000 population, per 100 recorded offence and per 100 suspects. These

tables illustrate the relative ’certainty’ of convictions and imprisonments for

a given offence in different countries. In order to complement the picture

of sentencing styles in the several countries, a table includes the percentage

of unsuspended custodial sentences shorter than 1 year.

¢) Corrections

Taking advantage of previous work done under the umbrella of the

Council of Europe, by Pierre Tournier and his colleagues on corrections,

the pilot document includes data on the number and the capacity of prison

facilities, and of prisoners on remand or serving sentences. Additional

tables include the number of persons serving community sanctions and

expenditures related to corrections including community sanctions. We also

add a table summarizing recidivism rates from studies carried out in

different countries. It is uncertain whether data on the life prevalence of

convictions and imprisonment will be available for a sufficient number of

countries.

210

Martin Killias

f) Survey data

We planned at first to include survey data from national and regional

studies. But the methodology of the existing studies varied too much

between countries. Thus we have decided to stick with of existing

internationally designed studies. Thus, the main findings from the two

waves of the International Crime Survey on victimization, crime reporting,

crime prevention measures and attitudes are included.

It has also been desirable to include some data from the International

Survey on Crime against Retailers. This has been conducted in 1994 in the

Netherlands, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, France, and

Switzerland. It covers topics such as theflt against shops, restaurants, and

businesses: it also includes, for some countries, extortion of protection

money and corruption.

Finally, we include some key data from the International Self-Reported

Juvenile Delinquency Project. This survey has been conducted on a national

basis in England, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, and in a

few cities in other countries.

The inclusion of data from these surveys will promote their

dissemination among users of the Criminal Justice Sourcebook. By finding

survey data and statistical materials in the same volume as crime statistics,

policy makers might become more aware of the usefulness of international

survey research in this area.

3.3 Future Perspectives

The experts’ committee has presented its final report, a so-called Model

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice, to the CDPC plenary session in June 1995.

It was decided that this Model Sourcebook should be published and that

the work of the experts’ committee should continue to June 1996 in order

to prepare the steps for establishing a European Sourcebook of Criminal

Justice.

The European Criminal Justice Sourcebook Project

211

The experts’ group has gained so far a few impressions which might be

useful for the next decisions which have to be made.

First, it seems to us that a data handbook is feasible, i.e. it is possible to

gather statistical data from different countries and to present them in

synthetic tables. It is also possible to collect the necessary background

information on statistical procedures and legal definitions and to present

these in an easily readable form.

Second, the pilot study’s relative success has been possible thanks to a

close cooperation between eight specialists from the countries included. In

other words, an approach by questionnaire, no matter how well designed,

might never have produced the same result. What is needed is personal

involvement

of competent specialists,

individualized (and publicly

acknowledged) responsibility as well as motivation and commitment to the

common product.

Should the Council of Europe ever consider to include a data handbook

of this sort among its standing activities, it might, therefore, be crucial to

have at least one responsible contributor per country, and to create among

them a firm commitment to the common goal by appropriate measures (for

example, a common meeting at Strasbourg to get the message through and

to receive all sorts of helpful comments and reactions from their side). A

steering committee might eventually be needed to manage and coordinate

the initiative, with a role comparable to the one Pierce Tournier plays in

the Council of Europe’s correctional data collection.

Which countries should be included? Basically, the understanding is

that all the Member States of the Council of Europe should be covered in

a future Sourcebook. On the other hand, this might be a too ambitious

standard to start with. Our feeling, therefore, is that the project might start

on a somewhat narrower basis and then continually add new countries in

future editions.

212

Martin Killias

Which Subject areas should be covered? The same sort of solution

might be attempted. If the experts’ group has decided on including only a

few offences at the start, this list could be added to in the future.

Which years should be included? For the time being, the experts’ group

has chosen the year 1990, for obvious practical reasons. Although we made

some additional effort to gather some data on trends, the bulk of the

materials to be presented in the pilot project is cross-sectional. In the

future, it will be much easier to cover trends. This will be the more

appealing as many limitations to cross-sections comparisons do not

necessarily affect data on trends.

How often should a handbook of this sort be produced? The answer

will clearly depend on resources available. Given the rather pessimistic

outlooks for the next few years, a five year interval might be a realistic idea.

How should a European data Handbook be coordinated with the UN

Surveys on Crime Data and the Operations of the Criminal Justice

System? Our fecling is that the two do complement and not exclude each

other. The UN Surveys cover an admirably large array of countries,

whereas the Council of Europe’s data collection will necessarily be limited

in geographical respects. Of course, HEUNI might no longer need to

proceed by the questionnaire method to gather data from the nations

covered by the European Sourcebook, but could directly take them over

from Strasbourg. This would allow the UN to invest more energy in the

collection of data from other countries, and especially in their assessment

of their reliability and validity.

Contributors

Barclay, Gordon

Head of Dissemination and International

Section, S1 Division, Home Office, Lunar

House, 40 Wellesley Road, GB-Croydon,

Surrey Cro 9YD

Blath, Dr. Richard

Regierungsdirektor, Bundesministerium

der Justiz, Referat fiir Kriminologie,

D-53170 Bonn

Caputo, Armando

ISTAT, Statistische Giudiziarie,

Viale Liegi, 13, I-00100 Roma

Erdosi, Sandor

Data Processing Office, Statistics and

Information Department, Ministry of Home

Affairs, Budapest, Hungary

Gratia, Jean

Charge du service Centrale d’Etude de la

Delinquence a la Direction Centrale de la

Police Judiciare, Ministere de I'Interieur,

13 rue des Saussaires, F-75008 Paris

Israclsson, Torbjorn

Statistics Sweden,

Karlavagen 100, S - 115 81 Stockholm,

Sweden

Jasinski, Prof. Jerzy,

Institute of Legal Studies, Polish

LL.D.

Academy of Sciences, Nowy Swiat 72,

00-330 Warszawa, Polen

Jehle, Dr. Jorg-Martin

Direktor der Kriminologischen Zentral-

stelle e.V., Adolfsallee 32,

D-65185 Wiesbaden

Killias, Prof. Dr. Martin

Institut de Police Scientifique et de

Criminologie, Université de Lausanne,

CH-1015 Lausanne

214

List of Contributors

Kommer, Dr. Max M

Research Coordinator, Research and

Documentation Centre, Ministerie van

Justitie, Schedeldoekshaven 100,

NL-2511 EX Den Haag

Kranidioti, Dr. Maria

Center of Penal and Criminological

Research, University of Athens, Faculty

of Law, Section of Criminal Law and

Criminology, 57, SOLONOS Str. (Rm 307),

106 79 Athens, Greece

Larsen, Paul Henning

Danmarks Statistik, Sejrogade 11,

2100 Copnhavn 0, Danmark

Lewis, Chris

Chief Statistician, Home Office, Research

and Statistics Department, 50 Queen Anne’s

Gate, GB-London SW 1 H 9 AT

Lopes, J. de Seabra

Director-General, Gabinete de Estudos e

Planeamento do Ministerio da Justica,

Av Oscar Monteiro Torres, 39,

1016 Lisboa Codex, Portugal

Silva, Sange de

Executive Director, Canadian Centre for

Justice Statistics, 19th Floor, R H Coates

Building, Ottawa, Canada K1A OT6

Sita, N. Masamba

UN African Institute for the Prevention of

Crime and the Treatment of Offenders,

PO Box 10590, Kampala, Uganda

Director of the Center of Penal and

Spinellis, Prof. Dr.

Calliope D.

Criminological Research, University

of Athens, Faculty of Law, Section of

Criminal Law and Criminology, 57,

SOLONOS Str. (Rm 307), 106 79 Athens,

Greece

Publications of the KrimZ

Kriminologie und Praxis (KUP)

Series of the Kriminologische Zentralstelle

Band 1

Anwendungsbezogene Kriminologie zwischen Grundlagenforschung

und Praxis / hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle u. Rudolf Egg. - Wiesba-

den, 1986. - 158 S.

ISBN 3-926371-00-5

Band 2

Datenzugang und Datenschutz in der kriminologischen Forschung /

hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1987. - 426 S.

ISBN 3-926371-01-3

Band 3

Drogentherapie und Strafe / hrsg. von Rudolf Egg. - Wiesbaden,

1988. - 323 S.

ISBN 3-926371-03-X

Band 4

Datensammlungen und Akten in der Strafrechtspflege / hrsg. von

Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1989. - 346 S.

ISBN 3-926371-06-4

Band 5

Criminological Research and Planning in State and Supranational

Institutions /ed. by Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1990. - 223 S.

ISBN 3-926371-07-2

Band 6

Feuerhelm, Wolfgang: Gemeinniitzige Arbeit als Alternative in

der Geldstrafenvollstreckung. - Wiesbaden, 1991. - 403 S.

ISBN 3-926371-09-9

Band 7

Individualpréaventionund Strafzumessung :ein Gesprachzwischen

Strafjustiz und Kriminologie / hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wies-

baden, 1992. - 388 S.

ISBN 3-926371-11-0

Band 8

Die Zukunft der Personenstatistiken im Bereich der Strafrechts-

pflege : Materialien und Diskussion einer Expertensitzung / hrsg.

vom Bundesministerium der Justiz und der Kriminologischen Zen-

tralstelle. - Wiesbaden, 1992. - 162 S.

ISBN 3-926371-12-9

Band 9:

Die Therapieregelungen des Betdubungsmittelrechts : deutsche

und auslandische Erfahrungen / hrsg. von Rudolf Egg. - Wiesba-

den, 1992. - 262 S.

ISBN 3-926371-14-5

Band 10

Kriminologie als Lehrgebiet : Kriminologische Aus-, Fort- und

Weiterbildung in verschiedenen Studienfachern und Berufsfeldern /

hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1992. - 365 S.

ISBN 3-926371-15-3

Band 11

Block, Petra: Rechtliche Strukturen der Sozialen Dienste in der

Justiz - eine vergleichende Analyse der Léndervorschriften. -

Wiesbaden, 1993. - 282 S.

ISBN 3-926371-16-1

Band 12

Kurze, Martin: Strafrechtspraxis und Drogentherapie. Eine

Implementationsstudie zu den Therapieregelungen des Betau-

bungsmittelrechts. - Wiesbaden, 1994. - 2., erg. Aulfl. - 320 S.

ISBN 3-926371-23-4

Band 13

Die strafrechtliche Unterbringung in einem psychiatrischen

Krankenhaus : Probleme und Perspektiven / hrsg. von Michael

Gebauer u. Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1993. - 232 S.

ISBN 3-926371-20-X

Band 14

Organisation und Kooperation der Sozialen Dienste in der Justiz /

hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle und Werner Sohn. - Wiesbaden,

1994. - 381 S.

ISBN 3-926371-21-8

Band 15

Improving Criminal Justice Statistics : National and International

Perspectives /ed. byJorg-MartinJehle and Chris Lewis. - Wiesba-

den, 1995. - 214 S.

ISBN 3-926371-24-2

Band 16

Die strafrechtliche Unterbringung in einer Entzichungsanstalt /

hrsg. von Axel Dessecker und Rudolf Egg. - Wiesbaden, 1995. -

ca. 250 S.

ISBN 3-926371-25-0

Berichte - Materialien - Arbeitspapiere (BMA)

Heft 1:

Der Kriminologische Dienst in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland /

hrsg. von Jorg-Martin Jehle. - Wiesbaden, 1988. - 117 S.

ISBN 3-926371-02-1

Heft 2

Feuerhelm, Wolfgang: Geldstrafenvollstreckung und Gemeinniitzi-

ge Arbeit : e. Zwischenbericht. - Wiesbaden, 1988. - 106 S.

ISBN 3-926371-04-8

Heft 3

Egg, Rudolf; Kurze, Martin: Drogentherapie in staatlich anerkann-

ten Einrichtungen : Ergebnisse e. Umfrage. - 3. Aufl. - Wiesbaden,

1991 (1. Aufl. 1989). - 134 S.

ISBN 3-926371-05-6

Helt 4

Jehle, Jorg-Martin; Feuerhelm, Wolfgang; Block, Petra: Gemein-

niitzige Arbeit statt Ersatzfreiheitsstrafe : Forschungskolloquium

zu einer bundesweiten Untersuchung; mit einem Anhang zur

Situation in der DDR. - Wiesbaden, 1990. - 180 S.

ISBN 3-926371-08-0

Heft 5

Sohn, Werner: Referatedienst Kriminologie : ausgewihlte Zeit-

schriftennachweise aus der Literaturdatenbank JURIS fiir das

Jahr 1990 / zsgest. und bearb. von Werner Sohn. Wiesbaden,

1991. - 259 S.

ISBN 3-926371-10-2

Heft 6

Sohn, Werner: Referatedienst Kriminologie : ausgewihlte Zeit-

schriftennachweise aus der Literaturdatenbank JURIS fiir das

Jahr 1991 / zsgest. und bearb. von Werner Sohn. Wiesbaden,

1992. - 330 S.

ISBN 3-926371-13-7

Heft 7

Sozialtherapie in den 90er Jahren

gegenwirtiger Stand und

aktuelle Entwicklung im Justizvollzug / hrsg. von Rudolf Egg. -

Wiesbaden, 1993. - 205 S.

ISBN 3-926371-17-X

Heft 8:

Sohn, Werner: Referatedienst Kriminologie : ausgewiéhlte Zeit-

schriftennachweise aus der Literaturdatenbank JURIS fiir das

Jahr 1992 / zsgest. und bearb. von Werner Sohn. Wiesbaden,

1993. - 323 S.

ISBN 3-926371-18-8

Heft 9:

Sohn, Werner: Referatedienst Kriminologie : ausgewihlte Zeit-

schriftennachweise aus der Literaturdatenbank JURIS / zsgest.

und bearb. von Werner Sohn. - Folge 4. Ausg. 1994. - Wiesba-

den, 1994. - 336 S.

ISBN 3-926371-22-6

Other Monographs

Kriminologie: Forschungsdokumentation ; 1980 - 1986 / Hrsg. Informa-

tionszentrum Sozialwissenschaften und Kriminologische Zentralstelle. -

Bonn; Wiesbaden, 1988. - 689 S. + Reg.anh.

ISBN 3-8206-0039-6

Further Publications

Furthermore numerous articles in journals and readers on various crimi-

nological fields have been published.