• E4J University Module Series: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

• Module 1: United Nations Norms and Standards on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

• Introduction and learning outcomes

• Key issues

  • Key terms
  • Topic 1 - Introducing the United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice vis-à-vis international law
  • Topic 2 - The scope of United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice
  • Topic 3 - The United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice in operation
  • Summary
  • References

• Exercises

• Case studies

• Possible class structure

• Core reading

• Advanced reading

• Student assessment

• Additional teaching tools

• Guidelines to develop a stand-alone course

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• First published in September 2020
  

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  This module is a resource for lecturers  

Student assessment

This section provides a suggestion for a post-class assignment for the purpose of assessing student understanding of the Module. Suggestions for pre-class or in-class assignments are provided in the Exercises section.

Essay questions

• Identify the UN standards and norms relevant to the problem of police racial profiling. Provide an overview of the ways in which these normative provisions seek to prevent and/or respond to this issue (2000 words).
• Are there UN standards and norms relevant to the policing and prosecution of hate crimes? (1500 words).
• Provide a 1000-word overview of the UN standards and norms relevant to imprisonment, with a separate discussion of the significance of these standards and norms in the context of over-incarceration (an additional 1000 words).
• Why is crime prevention an important component of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 16 (promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.) Ensure that your answer draws also on the UN standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice. (2000 words).
• Critically assess: (a) the extent to which your country complies with the standards set by the UN in a chosen field (students are free to choose) and (b) how this may be improved. (2000 words).
• Report analysis: Find the most recent UN report on your country, or a country for which you have knowledge of the legal system and public policy context. (This can be a report of a Special Rapporteur, Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, any treaty body, etc.) If you cannot find such a report, check the reports of regional actors or international NGOs and detention monitors (i.e. Amnesty International etc.). Answer the following questions: (a) What are the main problems identified in those reports? (b) What are the recommended steps for redress/response? (c) Do you think the recommended measures are feasible and applicable in the context of the country? (d) Since the publication of the report, has the government taken any measures to address the shortcomings identified by the report? If so, do you think these measures are effective? (4000 words)

Next: Additional teaching tools

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