Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Resources

UNODC develops tools for stakeholders to assist States in the implementation of the UN standards and norms. They include a variety of handbooks, training curriculums and model laws which provide guidance to United Nations agencies, governments and individuals at each stage of criminal justice reform.

An overview of all the handbooks and manuals that the Justice Section develops is available in English, French, Spanish,Russian

COVID-19 Guidance Note: Infection Prevention and Control Measures in Prisons English, Spanish NEW!

COVID-19 Guidance Note: Emergency Releases of Prisoners English, Spanish, French NEW!

UNODC Position Paper on COVID-19 Preparedness and Responses in Prisons English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese

UNODC Thematic Brief on Gender-based Violence against Women and Girls

Protecting Children deprived of Liberty during the COVID-19 Outbreak

UNDP/UNODC Guidance Note on Ensuring Access to Justice in the Context of COVID-19

General Tools on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (2016) Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit
Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary
The Status and Role of Prosecutors - a UNODC and International Association of Prosecutors Guide English
Addendum to the Standards of Professional Responsibilities and Statement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors: Compilation of comments received from Member States, English
UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice for Peacekeepers English, French, Spanish
UN Criminal Justice Standards for UN police English, French
Criminal Justice Reform in Post-Conflict States: A Guide for Practitioners
For more UN Resources please visit:

United Nations Digital Library

Official Document System

Statistics and Surveys

Apart from normative and operational work, UNODC also conducts research in the areas of crime prevention and criminal justice. For further information, please follow the links below:

Crime statistics: see, for instance, the World Crime Trend Reports
Crime victimization surveys (CVS)
UNODC Research - Crime and Criminal Justice
Eleventh Survey on Capital Punishment and on the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, covering the period 2019-2023 - Questionnaires in Arabic (pdf), Arabic(doc), Chinese (pdf), Chinese(doc), English (pdf), English(doc), French (pdf), French(doc), Spanish (pdf), Spanish(doc), Russian (pdf), Russian(doc).
The UNDP/UNODC Global Study on Legal Aid (2015)

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Resources

General Tools on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Statistics and Surveys

Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Sitemap