Prolonged Pretrial Detention in Haiti.
Directly or indirectly, crime affects virtually all individuals, societies, and countries.
Wildlife trafficking may be disrupting your local ecosystem or hurting your livelihood. Corruption may be making it difficult for you to access the health, administrative, or educational services you need. Organized crime or gang violence may have led to an increase in homicides in your country. Or perhaps your family member is one of the 3.5 million people being held worldwide in pre-trial detention.
Reducing and preventing violence and crime – as well as ensuring fair, humane, and efficient criminal justice systems – are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is meeting next week to propose and agree upon international action against crime. Below, find out more about the Commission and why it matters.
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, also known as the ‘Crime Commission’ or CCPCJ, is the UN’s main policymaking body addressing crime prevention and criminal justice issues. 40 Member States are elected by ECOSOC to serve three-year terms.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) acts as Secretariat to the Crime Commission.
52 people lost their lives to homicide globally every hour in 2021, according to UNODC’s Global Homicide Study. Meanwhile, the percentage of detected child victims rose from 28 per cent in 2014 to 35 per cent in 2021.
What’s more, 11.2 million people are being held in prisons worldwide, an increase of 17 per cent since the start of the 21st century. And justice remains inaccessible to many – less than half the population report crimes like robbery or physical or sexual assault.
These data points and others from the UN demonstrate that little to no progress has been made to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) on peace, justice and strong institutions – making the Crime Commission’s role more important than ever.
The Crime Commission helps to address these sobering statistics by working to prevent crime more effectively and make criminal justice systems fairer and more efficient.
The Crime Commission takes action through resolutions and decisions on the following mandated priority areas:
At this year’s Crime Commission, Member States will be holding thematic discussions on international cooperation on criminal matters and debating resolutions on countering trafficking in persons in the digital age; treatment of children associated with terrorist groups; reducing reoffending through rehabilitation and reintegration; preventing and countering violence against children in contexts of insecurity; and follow-up to the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and preparations for the 15th Congress.
The Crime Commission also acts as the preparatory and implementing body for the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which meets every five years and helps shape international and domestic policies.
UNODC provides technical assistance, guidelines, and coordination to Member States to help them build efficient, fair, and humane justice systems, as well as to help prevent national and transnational crime.
UNODC’s many technical tools and training material, including online courses on its e-Learning Platform, offer up to date guidance and information to make crime prevention more effective and strengthen criminal justice institutions.
UNODC also regularly publishes reports to assist policymakers to understand the dynamics and trends behind different kinds of crimes and justice systems.
Some recent examples include our Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, Global Homicide Study, the report with Global Estimates of Gender-related Killings and our brief on Global Prison Population and Trends and the SDG16 Global Progress Report. Furthermore, UNODC brings together other UN entities to tackle key crime prevention and criminal justice challenges, for example under the recently adopted United Nations Common Position on Incarceration, the Strategy to End Violence Against Children 2023-2030 and the UN Manual on Investigative Interviewing.
