Prosecution / Courts
Session 9, November 24 2010
Overview of the Criminal Justice System and
Statistics – Publication of results, Analysis, interpretation and use
With funding from the
European Union
DEVELOPMENT OF MONITORING INSTRUMENTS FOR
JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTITUTIONS IN
THE WESTERN BALKANS 2009-2011
Phase three – Training

The key principles of publishing statistics are that:
•
Consider the data user and what they need to do their job better
• Published statistics must be trusted by their readers
•
They also need to be understood clearly
•
These principles are not technology or output dependent
• Therefore the statistician must be prepared to repeat messages and to explain from first principles what the figures mean

• Justice Statistics should be free from political interference, this means: o Statistics should be released to everybody at the same time to avoid political misuse of the figures or their suppression o There is a need for a list of contact points where people can ask further questions about the statistics o A policy is needed for more detailed release on request: eg to academics for research including making data anonymous.
• If this is not the case, it is important to work towards this and build agreements that work towards statistical independence .

A description of the Dutch situation
• Key is the yearly publication with statistics on every part of the Criminal Justice System
•
The publication is both by Statistics Netherlands and the
Ministry of Justice Research Department (WODC)
• The publication consists of data and ample explanations, but NO interpretations
•
The publication is NOT subject to permission of the
Minister of Justice or any other political influence
•
The publication is available as pdf on Internet (but not in
English)

A description of the Dutch situation (2)
• Tables with statistical data (more than in the book publication) are available on both Statistics Netherlands and the WODC website
• There is an ‘Information Desk’ where specific questions
(by policy makers, media and general public) are answered
•
Raw data for research are available on request (provided certain conditions regarding privacy are met). This is extensively used by research institutes, both commercial and university institutes and the WODC itself.

• Statistics are collected by the various agencies:
Police: Prosecution: Courts: Probation, Prisons
• Different ministries supervise the different agencies and have different priorities for uses and publication of statistics:
– Home Office (Police, Immigration)
– Ministry of Justice (Courts, Probation, Prisons)
– Attorney General (Prosecution)
• The National Statistics Office plays no real part in
Crime & Justice statistics.

• Summary annual document: Criminal Statistics
– http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/criminalannual.htm
– Gives information from each agency and victims surveys
• Topic bulletins:
– Crime Statistics (quarterly and annual)
– Courts Statistics (quarterly and annual) http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/courtstatisticsquarterly.htm
– http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/courtstatisticsquarterly.htm
– Sentencing Statistics (quarterly and annual)
– http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sentencingannual.htm
– http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/sentencingquarterly.htm
– Probation Statistics
– Prison Statistics

• National and 43 individual areas)
– Police areas
– Prosecution case outcomes http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/performance/case_outcomes/
– Conditional cautioning outcomes
– http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/performance/conditional_cauti oning/conditional_cautioning_data_Q1_10_11.pdf
– Summary CPS case work statistics (annual rfeport)
– http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/reports/2009/ar_annex_c.html

• Police powers and arrests
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/arrestsfornotibleoffences.htm
• Prosecutions for Hate Crime (Race, Religion, etc)
• http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/CPS_hate_crime_report_2008.pdf
• Prosecutions for violence against women
• http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/CPS_VAW_report_2009.pdf
• Racists incidents monitoring
• http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/rims06-07.pdf
• Public confidence in the courts
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/hmcsusersurvey.htm
• Delays at court
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/timeintervals.htm

• Prison population forecasts
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonpopulation.htm
• Reconviction Studies
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/compendium-reoffending.htm
• Multi-agency work for serious offenders
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/mappa-annual-reports.htm
• Youth Justice Statistics
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/youth-justice-statistics.htm
• Safety in Custody
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/safer-custody.htm

• Efficiency of a prison CBT programme to reduce offending
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/eval-enhanced-thinkingskills-prog.pdf
•
Fine payment work study
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/fine-payment-workprocess-study-8-10.pdf
• Focus on Resettlement a randomised control trial
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/focus-on-resettlement.htm
• Dedicated Drug Courts: Impact evaluation
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/ddc-feasibility-impactevaluation.htm
• Study of Court Sentencing and its outcomes
• http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/study-sentencingoutcomes-pilot.pdf

Specific remarks and recommendations
• A general statistical (book)publication is generally the best way to disseminate basic information on crime and criminal justice
– We know from customer surveys that paper publication is still the desired form
• There is / should be a clear distinction between ‘giving the figures’ and ‘interpretation of the results’. A general statistical publication should not do any interpreation
•
Avoid different agencies reporting on the same subjects.
There will always be differences, thus having a negative effect on the credibility

Specific remarks and recommendations (2)
• A general publication should be restricted to simple, well understood indicators. For Prosecution and Courts this could be:
– Prosecution input
–
Prosecution decisions
– Court input
– Court decisions
–
Sanctions imposed
– Number of Prosecutors, judges, other personnel
Preferably by crime type, sex / age group of offender and if this makes sense also by geographic area

Specific remarks and recommendations (3)
•
In presenting data over time, changes in the time series could be attributed to system changes. This should be clearly commented upon.
• Publication should be in the language used by most users of statistics.
• There should be a good commentary on the statistics
• A shorter publication in English could be very useful for other countries to be able to read, but:
– Translation is not easy: More explanation is needed

Specific remarks and recommendations (4)
•
Dissemination can take the following forms:
1.
Regular publications on paper
2.
Regular publications on Internet
3.
Answering specific requests
4.
Providing raw, individual data
5.
Providing specific analyses of specific policy areas and problems
• The last three need personnel with a good knowledge of both the Criminal Justice field and Statistics

Specific remarks and recommendations (5)
About Publication on Internet:
•
It is very time consuming:
– Maintaining the web-site
–
Answering questions that will be asked via the website
•
In my view it should be used in addition to a paper publication by:
–
Electronic access to the data (e.g. Excel)
– Providing more data