UNITED

NATIONS

Council

GENERAL

E/CN.15/1996/21

1 March 1996

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON CRIME PREVENTION

AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Fifth session

Vienna, 21-31 May 1996

Item 8 of the provisional agenda [*E/CN.15/1996/1.]

V.96-81239T

Paragraphs, Page

INTRODUCTION 1-2, 2

I. MATTERS DRAWN TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMISSION 3-8, 3

II. ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTERREGIONAL CRIME

AND JUSTICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE 9-18, 3

III. ACTIVITIES OF THE AFFILIATED REGIONAL INSTITUTES 19-63, 8

A. Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the

Treatment of Offenders 19-30, 8

B. Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the

Treatment of Offenders 31-38, 9

C. European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated

with the United Nations 39-47, 12

D. African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment

of Offenders 48-63, 15

IV. ACTIVITIES OF THE ASSOCIATE INSTITUTES 64-125, 17

A. Arab Security Studies and Training Centre 64-72, 17

B. Australian Institute of Criminology 73-78, 18

C. International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice

Policy 79-92, 19

D. International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences 93-100, 21

E. National Institute of Justice of the United States Department of

Justice 101-111, 22

F. Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law 112-125, 24

V. ACTIVITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL 126-138, 25

1. The present report has been prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Economic and Social Council in its resolutions 1992/22, section IV, and 1994/21, with a view to facilitating the worldwide coordination of activities related to crime prevention and criminal justice. It contains an overview of the progress achieved in respect of the work and activities carried in 1995 by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), the affiliated regional institutes and the associate institutes and centres, which together comprise the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network. The report has been prepared on the basis of contributions received from the institutes and follows the format of previous reports on the subject.

2. In Economic and Social Council resolution 1992/22, section VI, adopted on the recommendation of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Council determined that the following priority themes should guide the work of the Commission in the development of a detailed programme for the period 1992-1996:

(a) National and transnational crime, organized crime, economic crime, including money-laundering, and the role of criminal law in the protection of the environment (hereinafter referred to as priority theme A);

(b) Crime prevention in urban areas, juvenile and violent criminality (hereinafter referred to as priority theme B);

(c) Efficiency, fairness and improvement in the management and administration of criminal justice and related systems, with due emphasis on the strengthening of national capacities in developing countries for the regular collection, collation, analysis and utilization of data in the development and implementation of appropriate policies (hereinafter referred to as priority theme C).

3. The United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network continues to deliver numerous and varied programme services throughout the various regions. The main activities of the institutes have generally focused on the priority themes identified by the Commission. In the present report, their operational activities have been highlighted, with emphasis on activities through which the institutes have responded to the needs expressed by Member States.

4. In the present report, information is included for the first time on the activities of two new associate institutes of the programme, namely the National Institute of Justice of the United States Department of State and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

5. The Commission may wish to determine the usefulness of the type of information provided by the institutes for the preparation of the present report.

6. The attention of the Commission is drawn to the report of the Tenth Joint Programme Coordination Meeting of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network (E/CN.15/1996/CRP.2), which was held at Courmayeur, Italy, from 17 to 18 October 1995.

7. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1994/21, requested the Commission to keep the functioning and programme of work of the African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders under active review, aiming at integrating it fully into the overall crime prevention and criminal justice programme. Further information on the activities of the African Institute is contained in a report of the Secretary-General (A/50/375).

8. The information provided by most institutes on their financial situation shows that their resource base is precarious. The Commission may wish to consider possible measures to match the programme development with the availability of funds.

9. UNICRI, established within the framework of Economic and Social Council resolu-tion 1086 B (XXXIX), has continued to carry out a wide range of activities, focusing on action-oriented research, training and technical cooperation, particularly on issues of concern to developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

10. The following research and project-related activities were carried out by UNICRI in 1995:

(a) Substantive and organizational work for the workshop entitled "Environmental protection at the national and international levels: potentials and limits of criminal justice", organized, with the assistance of all other members of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, within the framework of the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. The preparations involved, inter alia, a comprehensive study of three types of polluting behaviour and the manner in which they were dealt with (priority theme A); [*For the report of the workshop, see Report of the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Cairo, 29 April-8 May 1995 (A/CONF.169/16/Rev.1, paras. 355-369). The report will subsequently be issued as a United Nations sales publication.]

(b) A project to study, on a comparative basis, strategies, including laws and procedures, used in the fight against organized crime with a view to preparing a menu of options, for use in training and technical cooperation activities (priority theme A);

(c) A project document on anti-corruption strategies (including the collection of case-studies and the development of training modules), currently the subject of negotiations for funding (priority theme A);

(d) Completion of an international bibliography on violence in the family, as part of the contribution of UNICRI to both the International Year of the Family and the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, held at Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995 (priority theme B);

(e) Completion of a comparative study on child abuse in six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland) and production of a final report, an executive summary of which is to be published shortly in the Issues and Reports series (priority theme B);

(f) A project on promoting women's action in substance abuse prevention in Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and Tunisia), funded by the European Commission, to develop sets of proposals for the organization of local training activities for peer group trainers (priority theme B);

(g) Continuous participation in, and responsibility for, the international crime (victim) survey, including several related activities, mainly focusing on the analysis and presentation of the main results and achievements of the sweeps of the international crime (victim) survey done in the period 1989-1994 and preparation for the third sweep in 1996 (priority theme B);

(h) Collection of information from a number of countries with large Gypsy populations as part of a possible joint project involving the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNICRI aimed at examining ways of alleviating perceived discrimination against Gypsy children in the context of juvenile justice systems (priority theme B).

11. The following activities involving technical cooperation and advisory services were undertaken in 1995:

(a) In the context of the preparations for the third international crime (victim) survey, technical cooperation missions were conducted in the following countries: Albania, Bolivia, Mongolia, Romania and Zimbabwe. Pilot surveys were carried out between July and October 1995 and the full-fledged surveys were to commence in January 1996 (priority theme C);

(b) A project to provide assistance to Albania in the prevention of crime and the administration of justice was concluded in 1995 with a one-week training course for Albanian judges and prosecutors conducted at Tirana. The project was carried out in collaboration with the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (priority theme C);

(c) At the request of the Government of Kyrgyzstan, UNICRI participated in a needs assessment mission funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with an Interregional Adviser from the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch of the Secretariat and a senior UNDP consultant in September 1995 (priority theme C);

(d) In collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Health, UNICRI developed a pilot training project, funded by the Ministry for trainers of personnel in public drug treatment services. Three pilot courses, each involving 50 senior personnel, were held and the curriculum and the lessons learned are to be used in technical cooperation projects (priority theme C).

12. In 1995, UNICRI organized, or provided major input to, the following conferences and meetings:

(a) A meeting on the theme "Crime and criminal justice in the Mediterranean area: promotion of informed decision-making and international cooperation", held in Malta in February 1995; the meeting was attended by international experts and representatives of Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malta, Morocco and Tunisia, organized in association with the University of Malta (priority theme C);

(b) A meeting on protection of the environment through criminal law, organized by the Council of Europe at Strasbourg, France, in March 1995 (priority theme A);

(c) Within the framework of the Ninth Congress, held at Cairo from 29 April to 8 May 1995:

(i) A workshop entitled "International cooperation and assistance in the management of the criminal justice system: computerization of criminal justice operations and the development, analysis and policy use of criminal justice information", in collaboration with the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (priority theme C);

(ii) A workshop entitled "Environmental protection at the national and international levels: potentials and limits of criminal justice" (priority theme A);

(iii) An ancillary symposium on computerization, in collaboration with the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (priority theme C);

(d) Three meetings on promoting women's action in substance abuse prevention, with representatives of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the European Commission: two in Paris, held in June and December 1995, and one at Casablanca, Morocco, held in October 1995 (priority themes B and C);

(e) A meeting on policies and priorities in drug control in the context of the administration of criminal justice, held at Budapest in September 1995 (priority themes A and C); and panels at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at Beijing in September 1995, on the following:

(i) Women and drug abuse and addiction, in collaboration with UNDCP;

(ii) Human rights of women (follow-up strategies from Vienna to Beijing), in collaboration with the Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Labour Office;

(iii) Violence against women, in collaboration with UNHCR and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (priority themes B and C);

(f) The Tenth Joint Programme Coordination Meeting of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Network, held in collaboration with the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council at Courmayeur, Italy, in October 1995;

(g) The coordination meeting for the international crime (victim) survey, in association with the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands, held at The Hague in November 1995 (priority theme C); and the sixth regular session of the UNICRI Board of Trustees, held at Rome from 20 to 21 November 1995.

13. In addition, UNICRI participated in various meetings of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, UNDCP, the Council of Europe and other intergovernmental organizations.

14. During the period under review, UNICRI issued publications on the following:

(a) Development and Policy Use of Criminal Justice Information, [Note 1: Ugljesa Zvekic, Wang Lixian and Richard Scherpenzeel, eds., Development and Policy Use of Criminal Justice Information: Proceedings of the Beijing Seminar, UNICRI Publication No. 53 (Rome, 1995).] containing the results of a Beijing seminar on the development and policy use of criminal justice information. It was published jointly by UNICRI and the ministries of justice of China and of the Netherlands as the first UNICRI publication in Chinese and English. A total of 1,500 copies of the publication were distributed to Chinese courts and justice offices (priority theme C);

(b) A World Directory of Criminological Institutes; [Note 2: Carla M. Santoro, ed., A World Directory of Criminological Institutes, 6th ed., UNICRI Publication No. 54 (Rome, 1995).]

(c) Criminal Victimisation in the Developing World, [Note 3: Ugljesa Zvekic and Anna Alvazzi del Frati, eds., Criminal Victimisation in the Developing World, UNICRI Publication No. 55 (Rome, 1995).] containing an analysis of information relating to the international crime (victim) survey (priority theme C);

(d) In the UNICRI Issues and Reports series, in English and French (priority themes B and C):

(i) Violence in the Family, [Note 4: Violence in the Family: An International Bibliography with Literature Review, UNICRI Issues and Reports series, No. 4, 1994.] containing an executive summary of the international bibliography on violence in the family, as well as data from the international crime (victim) survey;

(ii) Women's Victimization in Developing Countries; [Note 5: Women's Victimization in Developing Countries, UNICRI Issues and Reports series, No. 5, 1995.]

(e) UNICRI information material:

(i) UNICRI biannual report for the period 1993-1994;

(ii) International crime (victim) survey brochure;

(iii) UNICRI leaflet;

(iv) UNICRI Library Management System leaflet;

(f) UNICRI reports (restricted distribution) on the following:

(i) Environmental protection at the national and international levels: potentials and limits of criminal justice (two volumes) (priority theme A);

(ii) Violence in the Family: An International Bibliography with Literature Review (priority theme B);

(iii) Manual for the international crime (victim) survey for face-to-face interviews (priority theme C);

(g) A UNICRI commercial publication: probation around the world (a comparative study), containing an international survey on probation systems and services in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sweden and United Kingdom.

15. Documentation services have been further streamlined to provide more efficient support of UNICRI research, training and technical cooperation activities. The electronic Library Management System has been further refined and its thesaurus completed. It is expected that the Library Management System will become accessible through the Internet in 1996.

16. Italy remains the principal benefactor of UNICRI in terms of the provision of both funding and other assistance, including accommodation and associated services. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a major contributor to UNICRI resources. Its Directorate-General for Development Cooperation financed the above-mentioned project providing assistance to Albania in the prevention of crime and the administration of justice and the meeting on crime and criminal justice in the Mediterranean area. The Government of the Netherlands is funding UNICRI missions to developing countries and countries with economies in transition that are participating in the international crime (victim) survey. The Government of Japan has provided an associate research expert.

17. A number of potential donor Governments, development institutions, banks and funds have been approached with a view to obtaining contributions to the core resources or specific project activities of UNICRI.

18. UNICRI experienced a reduction in its income, from US$ 7.3 million in the biennium 1992-1993 to US$ 4.5 million in the biennium 1994-1995. Consequently, its staff was reduced by three professionals and six general service staff members. At present, of its 22 staff members, 9 are professionals, 1 is an associate expert and 12 are general service staff.

19. The Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders continued to focus on training and research to promote regional cooperation in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice and to contribute to sound social development in Asia and the Pacific.

20. Comparative research on the criminal justice systems in Asia and the Pacific was conducted by the Asia and Far East Institute, in cooperation with Australian Institute of Criminology. An expert in each of the 12 countries in the region was requested to make a report on the criminal justice system in his or her country (priority theme C).

21. Research on juvenile welfare in India is being conducted jointly by the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice of Japan and the National Institute of Social Defence of India. The research, which started in April 1993, is scheduled to last until March 1996 (priority theme B).

22. Pakistan and the Asia and Far East Institute organized a joint seminar on the contemporary issues concerning criminal justice: a comparative study. Up to 180 participants from various criminal justice sectors attended the seminar, which was held at Islamabad from 12 to 16 March 1995. A joint seminar organized by Fiji and the Asia and Far East Institute is scheduled to take place in Fiji from 11 to 16 March 1996 (priority theme C).

23. The third regional seminar on effective measures against drug offences was organized jointly by the Asia and Far East Institute and the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Twenty participants from Latin America and the Caribbean attended the seminar, which was held at San José from 31 July to 11 August 1995 (priority theme A).

24. A Chinese-Japanese special seminar for high-ranking officers in the criminal justice system was held in Japan from 10 to 29 July 1995. Thirty Chinese officers participated in the seminar (priority theme C).

25. Each year the Asia and Far East Institute conducts two international training courses lasting three months and one international seminar course lasting one month. Each year, approximately 60 government officials from various countries are given fellowships by the Japan International Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the courses. The training courses held during the period under review include the following:

(a) The 99th international seminar was held at Fuchu, Japan, from 30 January to 2 March 1995. Twenty-one high-ranking officers from various regions participated in the seminar, the theme of which was "The effective administration of criminal justice: public participation and the prevention of corruption" (priority theme A);

(b) The 100th international training course was held from 17 April to 7 July 1995. Persons from 18 countries in various regions participated in the course, the main theme of which was "The institutional treatment of offenders: relationships with other criminal justice agencies and current problems in administration" (priority theme C);

(c) The 101st international training course was held from 11 September to 1 December 1995. Persons from 19 countries in various regions participated in the course, the main theme of which was "The fair and efficient administration of criminal justice: the proper exercise of authority and procedural justice" (priority theme C).

26. Reports on training courses and seminars continue to be published regularly by the Asia and Far East Institute. The results of the survey on criminal justice information and the data gathered from countries in Asia and the Pacific, which was conducted by the Asia and Far East Institute in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Criminology, were compiled and published in Crime Trends in Asia and the Pacific at the beginning of 1995 and were submitted to the Ninth Congress (priority theme C).

27. Since the last reporting period, one issue (No. 46) of the Resource Material Series and three issues (Nos. 85-87) of the newsletter of the Asia and Far East Institute were published. The two publications are periodically sent to all alumni of the Asia and Far East Institute, visiting experts and related organizations in and outside of Japan.

28. In 1995, in commemoration of the 100th international seminar or training course, the Asia and Far East Institute, under the sponsorship of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, compiled an access list of alumni of the institutes. Two public lectures were given by visiting experts: one on structure and practices for the investigation of bribery of public officials in the United States and the other on the crime control strategy in Singapore (priority themes A and C).

29. The Asia and Far East Institute has 10 professional faculty members, selected from public prosecutors' offices, the judiciary, corrections and probation, and 20 supporting staff members. Its annual budget is around 350 million yen.

30. Financial and administrative responsibilities for running the Asia and Far East Institute continued to be assumed by the Government of Japan. The budget for the international training and seminar programmes of the Asia and Far East Institute is provided by the Ministry of Justice. Visiting experts from outside the country were invited by the Ministry of Justice for each training course. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation provided financial assistance. The Asia and Far East Institute has also received valuable assistance from various experts, volunteers and related agencies in conducting its training programmes.

31. The Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders continued to assist countries in the region, providing specialized services in response to their increasing needs. Such services included implementing programmes and projects based upon research to provide policy guidance.

32. The Latin American Institute carried out the following studies, programmes and projects at the regional level:

(a) Continuation of a regional programme on effective countermeasures for combating drug crimes and improving the administration of criminal justice (priority theme C);

(b) Continuation of a regional programme on women, criminal justice and gender (priority theme C);

(c) Continuation of a regional programme on human rights, juvenile justice and minors in custody (priority theme B);

(d) Continuation of a regional programme on the administration of justice as the guarantor of human rights (priority theme C);

(e) Continuation of a programme on the State's response to the victimization and criminalization through drugs of young segments of the population (priority theme B).

33. The subregional activities of the Latin American Institute included:

(a) Preparation and implementation of the plan of action on crime prevention and criminal justice in Central America for the period 1995-1998, approved at the Sixteenth Meeting of Presidents of Central America, held at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, from 24 to 25 October 1994, on the occasion of the International Conference on Peace and Development in Central America, in an effort to seek a concerted regional response to improve the performance of the administration of the criminal justice systems, in particular against organized crime and corruption (priority themes A, B and C);

(b) Continuation of a programme on the strengthening of the coordination mechanisms of the justice sector in Central America (priority theme C);

(c) Continuation of a programme on the training of judicial instructors and lay judges in Central America (priority theme C);

(d) Continuation of a programme on the strengthening of the administration of justice information system at the documentation centre of the Latin American Institute to promote the dissemination and the exchange of information among the national, subregional, regional and international institutions of the justice sector and for the development and implementation of the research and technical assistance projects of the Latin American Institute (priority theme C);

(e) Continuation of a programme on legal reform for the eradication of illicit drug trafficking crimes in Central America (priority theme A);

(f) Continuation of a programme on police training to prevent and combat domestic violence and strengthen the victim's rights in Central America (priority theme B);

(g) Continuation of a programme on overall care of street children in Central America (priority theme B);

(h) Continuation of a programme on the situation of women in custody in Central America (priority theme C);

(i) A programme on preventing the recidivism of offenders through action aimed at their reintegration into society and the workforce (priority theme C);

(j) Programme of consultation with the civil society of each Central American country regarding the progress of the plan of action on crime prevention and criminal justice in Central America;

(k) Programme on pre-trial detainees and alternative measures to imprisonment (priority theme C).

34. At the national level, the Latin American Institute carried out the following activities:

(a) In Colombia, the strengthening of volunteer work in corrections (priority theme C);

(b) In Costa Rica, the improvement of the administration of justice (priority theme C);

(c) In the Dominican Republic, the strengthening of the public defence services (priority theme C);

(d) In Ecuador, criminal procedural reform, and a programme to strengthen public defence services;

(e) In Nicaragua, continuation of the programme for strengthening the judicial school;

(f) In Peru, the compilation of a national register of detainees (priority theme C).

35. The Latin American Institute continued to provide technical assistance in various fields of interest for countries in the region, with the cooperation and financial support of Governments in and outside the region.

36. The publications issued by the Latin American Institute in 1995 included the following:

(a) "Cuando el género suena cambios trae: una metodología para introducir la perspectiva de género en la legislación" (When gender is noted, changes come: a methodology for the introduction of the perspective of gender in legislation);

(b) "Las mujeres a ambos lados del encierro: situación de la mujer en el sistema penitenciario en Centroamérica" (Women on both sides of confinement: the situation of women in the Central American correctional system) (priority theme C);

(c) "Compilación de instrumentos internacionales sobre los derechos de la mujer" (compilation of international documents on women's rights);

(d) "Manual de capacitación en violencia doméstica para el curso básico policial en Costa Rica" (Training manual on domestic violence for the basic police course in Costa Rica) (priority theme B);

(e) "Manual para facilitadores sobre tratamiento grupal para víctimas de incesto" (Facilitators manual on group therapy for victims of incest) (priority theme B);

(f) "Legislación especial en materia de drogas en centroamérica: indices temáticos" (Special legislation on the subject of drugs in Central America: thematic indices) (priority theme A);

(g) Boletín "Cooperación al Día" (Nos. 5 y 6) ("Cooperation to date" bulletin (Nos. 5 and 6));

(h) "Anteproyecto de código de la niñez y la adolescencia en Guatemala" (Draft code on childhood and adolescence in Guatemala);

(i) "Bases para la nueva legislación juvenil salvadorena: diagnóstico jurídico y sociológico del sistema vigente" (Bases for the new Salvadoran juvenile legislation: juridical and sociological diagnostic study of the existing system);

(j) "Niños, niñas y adolescentes privados de libertad: bases para la nueva legislación penal en Guatemala; diagnóstico jurídico y sociológico del sistema vigente" (Imprisoned children and adolescents: bases for the new Guatemalan penal legislation; juridical and sociological diagnostic study of the existing system);

(k) "La niñez y la adolescencia en conflictos con la ley penal: el nuevo derecho penal juvenil; un derecho para la libertad y la responsabilidad" (Childhood and adolescence in conflict with criminal law: the new juvenile penal legislation; law for freedom and responsibility.

37. The core staff of the Latin American Institute consists of 21 persons: 9 technical and 12 administrative staff members. Consultants are contracted on a short-term basis in conjunction with the implementation of projects. The Latin American Institute received a total of US$ 2,571,029 from donor agencies for the execution of 15 projects. The overhead provided by the projects was US$ 359,300. In addition, US$ 130,928 were received from the Institute's trust fund, US$ 6,500 from contributions made by Governments in Latin America and US$ 62,971 from other sources. Thus, the total operational budget of the Institute for 1995 was US$ 559,699.

38. Contributions for the operations of the Latin American Institute were received from the host country and 13 other Governments in the region, as well as from Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United States, UNDCP, the European Commission, the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Drug Control Commission (CICAD).

39. The activities of the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, are based on two criteria: (a) the priority themes as determined by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1992/22, section VI; and (b) the special regional concerns in Europe, focusing on the European countries with economies in transition.

40. Research and project-related activities undertaken by the European Institute included:

(a) Validation and reassessment work on the European and North American replies to the Fourth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems prior to the publication, in time for submission to the Ninth Congress, of a two-volume report on the results of the analysis (priority theme C);

(b) An analysis, based on existing documentary sources, on the smuggling of migrants in northern Europe and the Baltic States, carried out by an external consultant, as a contribution to the discussion on this priority issue at the fourth session of the Commission (priority theme A);

(c) The conducting of a minor survey on the potential of criminal justice systems as instruments to integrate migrants in various countries of Europe (priority theme A);

(d) Initiation of the establishment of a regional clearing-house for cooperative projects for improving support for the development of the crime prevention and criminal justice systems of central and eastern Europe was initiated, in line with Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/12; and the collection of information by means of a questionnaire (several replies had already been received by 31 December 1995) (priority theme C);

(e) Exploration, jointly with UNDP, of the feasibility of establishing in the Baltic States national pilot projects, connected with the above-mentioned clearing-house project, which, if they prove viable, may be extended later to include other European countries (priority theme C);

(f) Involvement in the project on regulation of firearms, through the identification of an external consultant to serve as the European member of the expert group that will develop and coordinate the project; and participation of a staff member from the European Institute at the first ad hoc meeting concerning the implementation of the project, which was held at Vienna from 18 to 20 December 1995 (priority theme A);

(g) Involvement in the planning and development of a project for the Fifth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems; and exploration of possibilities for cooperation with the Council of Europe in the project on the "European sourcebook", which would include detailed data on crime trends and criminal justice in the member States of the Council of Europe (priority theme C);

(h) Continuation, by a consultant from the European Institute, of the study of prison systems in several central and eastern European countries, focusing on the way in which progress is being achieved in developing prison administration and regimes in line with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, [Note 6: First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Geneva, 22 August-3 September 1955: report prepared by the Secretariat (United Nations publication, Sales No. 1956.IV.4), annex I.A.] and the European Prison Rules of the Council of Europe (priority theme C);

(i) Organization, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation, of the first planning meeting for the international project on the prevention and control of car theft and international smuggling of stolen cars, at Moscow from 12 to 14 December 1995 (priority theme A).

41. The European Institute assisted the Council of Europe by commenting on the draft Code of Criminal Procedure of Latvia. A follow-up meeting on the evaluation of the status of the law reform was held in September 1995 at Riga. A first needs assessment mission was carried out, in consultation with UNICRI, in Estonia in connection with the adoption of a national crime prevention programme.

42. Five short-term scholarships for postgraduate students and junior practitioners from the European region were granted. Needs assessment missions continued to be carried out to analyse the potential of the computerization of criminal justice administration in the Russian Federation. As a result, an external consultant has prepared a draft project document on assistance in the introduction of computerization into the criminal justice system of the Russian Federation. Draft project documents on corresponding projects were submitted to the authorities of Bulgaria and Slovenia.

43. The European Institute was heavily involved in organizing various Ninth Congress activities including the following:

(a) Contribution to the working paper, prepared for the Ninth Congress by the Secretariat, entitled "International cooperation and practical technical assistance for strengthening the rule of law: promoting the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme" (A/CONF.169/4) (topic I);

(b) The two-day workshop entitled "International cooperation and assistance in the management of the criminal justice system: computerization of criminal justice operations and the development, analysis and policy use of criminal justice information" and the ancillary symposium on computerization, coordinated by an external consultant (priority theme C);

(c) The joint presentation of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, which consisted of a display including posters, a publication on the institutes comprising the programme network and a video programme;

(d) The provision of assistance to UNICRI in organizing the two-day workshop entitled "Environmental protection at the national and international levels: potentials and limits of criminal justice" (priority theme A).

44. The European Institute participated in the first meeting of the International Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence, organized at Vancouver, Canada from 23 to 27 January 1995 by the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, in cooperation with some other entities (priority theme B). The European Institute was also represented at the Fourth World Conference on Women and at the First Meeting of the Multilateral Task Force on Democracy, Governance and Participation in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, organized by UNDP, in cooperation with UNCHR, at Geneva from 16 to 18 January 1995.

45. The following publications were issued by the European Institute during the reporting period:

(a) Three new volumes (on Finland, Ireland and Sweden) in the publication series providing background data on the various criminal justice systems in Europe and North America, in English;

(b) A two-volume report on the results of the European and North American analysis of the replies to the Fourth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, the first volume containing the cross-national results and the second one containing brief descriptions of the criminal justice systems of 50 countries in Europe and North America (priority theme C);

(c) A directory on computerized criminal justice information systems that provides not only the specifications (i.e. a description of the software application of the hardware needed), but also information on how the applications can be obtained (priority theme C);

(d) An updated and expanded second edition of an earlier report on crime prevention strategies in Europe and North America (priority theme C);

(e) Four new issues of the Occasional Papers series of the European Institute, on developments in the prison system in central and eastern Europe; crime, justice and human rights in the Baltics; organized crime across the borders; and alien-smuggling and uncontrolled migration in northern Europe and the Baltic;

(f) A report, commissioned by the European Institute, on money-laundering was published by the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (priority theme A);

(g) A biannual Newsletter, including a "grey literature file" and information on seminar reports and other material.

46. Intensified cooperation with the World Criminal Justice Library Network was initiated by means of transferring data on recent library acquisitions of the European Institute to the database of the Network.

47. The staff of the European Institute consists of six persons. Four of them are in the professional category and two others provide administrative support. The activities of the European Institute continued to be funded by the Government of Finland, with a budget allocation of 2.3 million markkaa, the equivalent of about US$ 540,000. The Institute received contributions from the Government of Sweden for project financing and from the United States for a specific project. Projects were also financed on a cost-sharing basis with Governments, in particular the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

48. The African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, despite its serious financial limitations, continued to serve the needs of African countries in this field, acting as a vehicle for coordination and collaboration in the fight against crime.

49. Further to the success of the study conducted during the last reporting period on the resettlement of street children at Kampala, the African Institute, in collaboration with intergovernmental and non-governmental agencies, is replicating the approach proposed in the study on a larger scale in Uganda and in other African countries (priority theme B).

50. The report of a study on the rehabilitation of offenders constituted a background document for the second conference of southern, central and eastern African heads of correctional services, held at Kampala in February 1995. Possible future cooperation with UNICEF should lead to a study focusing on children and juvenile detention facilities (priority theme C).

51. The African Institute continued to participate in the United Nations surveys of crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems. The African countries are being encouraged to effectively participate in the Fifth Survey. Where necessary, the African Institute assisted States in developing and putting in place mechanisms for the collection, analysis and presentation of data on crime prevention and criminal justice.

52. The African Institute developed a number of proposals for joint activities focusing on transnational crime in Africa, urban crime prevention, violence against women and children, juvenile justice and administration, environmental crime, and training courses on the treatment of offenders, which were submitted to different international organizations (priority themes A and C).

53. Because of its precarious financial situation, the Institute was unable to undertake advisory missions during the reporting period. Burundi and Zambia requested advisory services and offered to meet all related expenses, but the missions did not take place because of impediments in those countries.

54. Training activities continued to be geared towards upgrading the skills, knowledge and expertise of crime prevention and criminal justice personnel in the African region. As in the past, priority was given to the training of trainers. Since its establishment, the African Institute has carried out 12 training seminars and workshops, involving over 310 persons in the field of criminal justice and in other related fields and covering all subregions in Africa.

55. The African Institute cooperated with the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies in a training course on the protection of human rights, held at Banjul from 26 to 30 June 1995; the course was attended by 18 senior military officers from 16 African countries (priority theme C). Further training courses to be held during the current biennium have been designed, and funding for them is being negotiated with relevant agencies.

56. During the reporting period, the African Institute participated in a number of international, regional, subregional and national meetings and seminars, including the following: the twenty-first meeting of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, held at Addis Ababa from 20 to 27 April 1995; the Ninth Congress, held at Cairo from 29 April to 8 May 1995; the third meeting of the World Criminal Justice Library Network, held at Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, from 12 to 27 May 1995; the Eighth Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa, held at Kampala from 23 to 27 October 1995 (priority theme A); and the international conference on urban security, held at Saint-Denis, Réunion, from 4 to 8 December 1995 (priority theme B).

57. From 10 to 14 July 1995, the African Institute acted as host for a workshop on the training of trainers of the custodial corps of Malawi, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, which was organized and funded by the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch and was attended by 31 participants (priority theme C). A paper entitled "An intervention level in the rehabilitation of children in a difficult situation" was presented at the conference on traumas of children and youth in armed conflict, held at The Hague from 20 to 21 November 1995 (priority theme B).

58. The Deputy Director of the African Institute served as one of the visiting experts at the 99th international seminar of the Asia and Far East Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders. On that occasion, contacts were established with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency for possible funding.

59. During the period under review, the African Institute published its newsletter (vol. 5, Nos. 1 and 2 (1994) and vol. 6, No. 1 (1995)) in English and French. The reports of two training workshops, on law, women and crime and on management of prisons and prisoners, were published in English and French (priority theme C). The findings of the study on the resettlement of street children at Kampala and the study on the rehabilitation of prisoners were also published (priority themes B and C).

60. The compilation of African country profiles and the roster of African experts in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice continued to be expanded during the reporting period. Through the assistance provided by other institutes in the programme network and relevant organizations, the African Institute was able to continue developing its reference library specializing in the fields of the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders.

61. The financial situation of the African Institute continued to be precarious. In accordance with its statute, the administrative and programme costs were to be defrayed by financial contributions from African member States. However, by the end of August 1995, of the expected collection of US$ 1,511,766 from all 27 member States for the period 1989-1995, only US$ 224,813 had been remitted. One State had remitted its contribution in full up to December 1996; two States had remitted their contributions up to 31 December 1994; one State had remitted its contribution up to December 1993; another had remitted its contribution up to December 1992; and four other States had made partial payments against their assessed contributions for the period 1989-1994.

62. The execution of the activities of the African Institute was made possible largely by the financial assistance provided by UNDP, which has contributed US$ 1,663,311 to the African Institute since its inception in 1989. However, UNDP assistance ended in 1994, when the African Institute had spent US$ 1,505,429, leaving US$ 157,882 unspent. That amount was rephrased and spent in 1995.

63. The African Institute has six professional staff members, including the Director, and six general service staff, with an overall budget of US$ 487,534.

64. The Arab Security Studies and Training Centre, an intergovernmental organization and a specialized centre operating under the aegis of the Council of Ministers of the League of Arab States, continued to carry out various interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral activities to serve the needs of Arab States and provide direct assistance to them in the context of Islamic law, in the fields of crime prevention, security and safety.

65. In its comparative research and policy development and evaluation activities, the Centre maintained close consultation with high-level policy makers in the subregion. Its research finding continued to be used directly by national and regional agencies. In 1995, the following research projects and studies were designed for implementation:

(a) Development of security in the mass media; water resources and future security requirements; protection of the environment from pollution; and the Islamic approach in treating the problem of population (priority theme A);

(b) Drugs and juvenile delinquency; treatment procedures of juvenile delinquents in correctional institutions; development and protection from violent crime; traffic accidents causing physical injuries; and salaries, incentives and their effect upon the efficiency of security personnel (priority theme B);

(c) Professional satisfaction of security personnel; systems and criteria of nominations, promotions and displacement in the Arab security agencies; data systems and documentation in Arab security agencies; and police and human rights in the context of Islamic law (priority theme C).

66. The consultative services bureau of the Centre continued to provide technical advisory services to Arab countries, upon request. A regional adviser in crime prevention and criminal justice, together with consultants selected from the Centre's roster of experts, assisted in that work.

67. The Centre, in cooperation with other institutes, helped to organize the research workshops of the Ninth Congress and the joint exhibition of the affiliated regional institutes. It acted as host to an international seminar on the media and crime prevention, as well as to the second meeting of directors of forensic laboratories and the fourth meeting of directors responsible for security training in Arab countries.

68. The Centre's Graduate School of Criminal Justice continued to offer advanced academic programmes. In June 1995, the Graduate School awarded 29 master's degrees and 16 other diplomas. The Centre's Training Institute continued to provide short-term training courses and, during the period under review, organized and executed 12 training courses in different fields. The courses covered the following subjects:

(a) Security of communications; combating crimes of terrorism; protection of vital installations; illegal use of narcotics; and mass media and drug control (priority theme A);

(b) Car theft prevention; surveillance inspection and criminal investigation; training of trainers; and crime scene (priority theme B);

(c) Computer analysis of data and criminal statistics; traffic accidents and road investigation; and upgrading the performance of officers of ministries of the interior (priority theme C).

69. The Centre's Forensic Science Laboratory continued to offer specialized courses for laboratory personnel in Arab States and to conduct advanced courses on the identification, detection and analysis of narcotic drugs. In 1995, the Laboratory organized and executed 18 training courses in different fields of laboratory science in criminal matters (priority theme A).

70. The Centre held conferences, symposia, expert meetings and public lectures, public awareness campaigns and round tables on a wide range of subjects relating to criminal justice and public security.

71. The Centre's publishing house issued a number of periodical journals and newsletters in Arabic and English, including the biannual Arab Journal for Security Science, the biannual Arab Journal for Training, the monthly ASSTC Magazine and the quarterly ISPAC Newsletter, as well as books, reports and other material.

72. The Centre has a staff of 88 professionals and 93 general service staff members.

73. Following two reviews of its activities in 1994, the Australian Institute of Criminology underwent a major organizational change. It now has a new mandate, which is to provide quality information and conduct objective policy-oriented research, so as to enable government decisions to be made that will contribute to the promotion of justice and the prevention of crime. To meet its objectives and carry out its functions most effectively, the Institute was restructured in early 1995 into three groups: the Research Group, the Information Services Group and the Administrative Services Group.

74. Early in 1995, research activities were reorganized in four programme areas: violent and property crime; sophisticated crime; the criminal justice system; and data support and development. The Institute worked with the Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders on the analysis of the Fourth Survey, a report on which was published jointly (priority theme C). It also prepared a profile of the Australian criminal justice system, which was published by the Asia and Far East Institute in Criminal Justice Profiles of Asia [Note 7: Criminal Justice Profiles of Asia: Investigation, Prosecution, and Trial (Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, 1995).] (priority theme C).

75. During the period under review, the Australian Institute of Criminology completed a number of studies and reports, including the following:

(a) Australian Violence: Contemporary Perspectives II (priority theme B);

(b) Promise of Crime Prevention: Leading Crime Prevention Programmes (priority theme B);

(c) Environmental crime (priority theme A);

(d) Fear of Crime and Fear Reduction (priority theme B);

(e) Crimes against Business in Australia (priority theme A);

(f) Australian Deaths in Custody and Custody-related Police Operations 1993-94 (priority theme C);

(g) Domestic violence as a form of child abuse (priority theme B);

(h) Boot Camps and Justice: A Contradiction in Terms (priority theme B);

(i) The overrepresentation of indigenous people in custody in Australia (priority theme C).

76. The Information Services Group of the Australian Institute of Criminology continued to actively market all the new publications of the Institute. It established valuable promotional, marketing and distribution links within and outside Australia. The Institute continued to produce its quarterly series on juveniles under detention (priority theme B) and the programme of national homicide monitoring (priority theme B).

77. In June 1995, the Institute staged the first national outlook symposium on crime in Australia, which was attended by over 400 criminal justice professionals, academics, politicians and social agency personnel.

78. The library of the Institute currently has a collection of approximately 25,000 monographs and 1,000 serial titles. It maintains a database of Australian criminological information, known as CINCH, an index of about 30,000 Australian records relating to crime, crime prevention and criminal justice.

79. The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy was established in 1991 at Vancouver, Canada, as a joint initiative of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.

80. The Centre's International Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence, comprised of representatives of the United Nations, federal and provincial governments and foreign experts in the field, met at Vancouver from 23 to 27 January 1995 to recommend a programme delivery plan for implementing the training programme and to revise the core training curriculum developed with the assistance of the Justice Institute of British Columbia. The aim is to have a training curriculum, tested in project courses in several regions and assessed through consultations at the international level, to be made available to those States wishing to develop and strengthen their own long-term capacity to address domestic violence (priority theme B).

81. A consultation document entitled "Opportunities for renewal in sentencing and corrections" has been prepared to serve as the focal point for the development of a programme of work by the Centre, in cooperation with the Correctional Service of Canada, institutes comprising the programme network and other national and international partners. The proposed initiative will put in place a process to build on existing international and regional cooperation in the field of sentencing and corrections and to promote enhanced forms of collaboration between jurisdictions (priority theme C).

82. The Centre, the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, are continuing a project to develop a common curriculum in criminal law and criminal justice policy.

83. The Centre carried out needs assessment and programme development meetings at Shanghai and Beijing in April 1995 with the financial assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency. A report on the meetings, entitled "Opening the door", was produced and is available from the Centre (priority theme C). The Centre is developing a technical assistance and advisory programme aimed at assisting China in building the necessary administrative and legal structures in the area of criminal law and criminal justice in accordance with democratic principles and respect for human rights. The programme plan will form the basis for a collaboration agreement with the relevant Chinese institutions negotiated in the second half of 1995. The implementation of the first phase of the programme will be from 1 October 1995 to 31 December 1996.

84. Two Vietnamese scholars in criminal law and constitutional law, from the National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities and the Institute of State and Law at Hanoi, went to the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy and to the centre for Asian legal studies at the University of British Columbia in March 1995. In June 1995, two staff members from the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy travelled to Viet Nam, thus beginning an exchange with Vietnamese officials on constitutional rights and the rule of law. The potential for technical cooperation in the areas of human rights, justice policy, constitutional law, use of criminal law in environmental matters and legal reform was explored (priority themes A and C).

85. In mid-1995, the Centre initiated a joint project with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch and UNICRI to produce a reference document for civil police personnel involved in United Nations peace-keeping operations.

86. The Centre assisted in the organization of and attended the eighth International Conference of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, held in Hong Kong from 4 to 8 December 1994, on the theme "The corporation and the criminal law: victim and violator" (priority theme A).

87. Within its activities to foster exchanges and experiences between countries on aboriginal justice, the Centre organized a workshop at Vancouver in July 1995, bringing together a multidisciplinary group of experts including native people from six countries.

88. The Centre participated in a meeting of experts held at Ste. Adèle, Canada, from 28 February to 3 March 1995. The meeting, which was organized and sponsored by the international centre for human rights and democratic development, brought together 30 experts from governments, international and non-governmental organizations, the military, academics and politicians to examine issues relating to state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention in cases of gross breaches of human rights. The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, with the Canadian Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations, organized a seminar on the theme "States without law: the role of multilateral intervention to restore local justice systems", which was held at Vancouver on 9 December 1995.

89. In March 1995, the Director of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy presented to the Southwestern University School of Law at Los Angeles a paper on the work of the Centre in research on proceeds of crime and money-laundering (priority theme A). A public lecture on the theme "Right to the homeland: ethnic cleansing and the international criminal tribunal" was arranged as part of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Lecture Series of the Centre, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia and the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University.

90. The Centre is negotiating an agreement with the Solicitor General of Canada to prepare two reports on money-laundering issues that would examine the feasibility of mandatory suspicious transaction reporting and another report on preventive measures to combat money-laundering (priority theme A).

91. A bibliography on the exploitation of women and children by organized crime was produced in April 1995 and is available for distribution (priority theme A). A second edition of the Guide to Internet Resources in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice [Note 8: International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Guide to Internet Resources in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (Vancouver, 1995).] was produced in April 1995 and is available both electronically and in print form (priority theme C).

92. On 5 October 1994, the Centre was granted tax-exempt status as a registered charity under para-graph 149(1)(f) of the income tax act of Canada. The staff of the Centre in 1995 consisted of 14 persons, including a visiting fellow and a visiting associate. The overall budget of the Centre is around US$ 500,000.

93. The International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences at Siracusa, Italy, established in 1972, is a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (category II) and with the Council of Europe. It is a scientific institution devoted to higher education, training, studies and research in all the areas of criminal sciences, including human rights.

94. During the period under review, the Institute participated in a number of meetings organized within the framework of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme and the Ninth Congress on the topic of migration and crime. Each year, the Institute conducts between 10 and 15 programmes in various fields of criminal justice and human rights. As of September 1995, over 150 programmes had been conducted with the presence of over 12,000 jurists from 128 countries.

95. An international conference of experts on the theme "International criminal justice: historic and contemporary perspectives" was held at Siracusa from 5 to 7 December 1994. The conference was organized by the Institute in cooperation with several intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (priority theme A).

96. International meetings of experts were organized on the following issues:

(a) Arms control and regional security in the Middle East, held from 22 to 25 June 1995 (priority theme A);

(b) The international criminal court, in cooperation with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, the International Association of Penal Law and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, as well as other non-governmental organizations, held from 24 to 28 June 1995 (priority theme A);

(c) The penal process in comparative law, held from 11 to 14 September 1995 (priority theme C).

97. A national seminar was organized at Noto, Italy, in September 1995 on the theme "Female criminality: cultural stereotypes and misinterpreted realities", in cooperation with the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (priority theme B).

98. A series of instructional and educational meetings were held between October 1994 and June 1995 for young lawyers from Siracusa and a number of local conferences and one national seminar were held during the period under review, dealing with numerous aspects of criminal justice, including the role of justice of the peace and penal procedural matters (priority theme C).

99. As of September 1995, 87 books of the Institute's proceedings had been published. Some of the proceedings are contained in Revue internationale de droit pénal and Nouvelles études pénales. Others are published in-house by the Institute in the Quaderni series.

100. Local government entities constitute the main funding sources of the Institute, together with grants from major international donors. The governing body of the Institute is an independent Board of Directors with 25 members, 16 of whom were elected by the Administrative Council of the International Association of Penal Law. The Institute has a permanent staff of five. Its annual resources range between US$ 500,000 and US$ 800,000.

101. As the research arm of the United States Department of Justice, the National Institute of Justice sponsors research and evaluation with the aim of preventing and reducing crime and improving the operations of the criminal justice system, conducts studies that contribute to the understanding of criminal behaviour, sponsors demonstration or pilot projects that employ innovative or promising approaches in criminal justice and identifies new issues emerging in the field. During the period under review, the Institute commemorated its twenty-fifth year of operation.

102. The number of grants awarded by the National Institute of Justice increased from 92 in 1994 to 173 in 1995, in part because of the new initiatives prompted by the enactment of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (also known as the Crime Act). In general, the grants were awarded for projects reflecting the six goals that have characterized the research agenda of the Institute for the past several years: reducing violent crime; reducing drug- and alcohol-related crime; reducing the consequences of crime; improving the effectiveness of crime prevention programmes (priority theme B); improving law enforcement and the criminal justice system; and developing new technology for law enforcement and the criminal justice system (priority theme C).

103. The Institute also sponsored studies in certain areas covered by the Crime Act, including community policing, treatment drug courts and corrections, and continued its focus on violence, particularly youth and family violence, as well as substance abuse (priority theme B), firearms control, also in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Together with several other United States government agencies, the Institute has developed an information resource, the Partnerships against Violence Network (PAVNET). PAVNET, which is available electronically, is aimed at locating anti-violence programmes operating all over the country (priority theme B).

104. Innovative mechanisms to complement traditional law enforcement and sanctions to curb drug-related offending have been identified in studies conducted by the Institute, including the use of eviction proceedings and mapping technology, which generates information about "hot spots" of drug activity in specific locales (priority theme B). The Institute is also sponsoring studies of anti-crime initiatives based in local areas, as well as community courts and "community prosecution" (priority theme B).

105. The Institute, with a view to promoting the worldwide exchange of criminal justice information, continues to administer the International Document Exchange programme. In the past year four new members were welcomed into the programme, which now has a total of 105 members in 50 countries. With the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division and the Mitre Corporation, the Institute is developing the United Nations on-line crime and justice clearing-house (UNOJUST), a system that will electronically link and make available via Internet the information housed in the programme network. The international rule of law clearing-house on-line project is an electronic library for the exchange of information on how to build institutions based on the foundation of law, which is helping both the States that comprised the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and other States.

106. In the reporting period, the Institute sponsored 45 conferences, meetings and focus group sessions. The services and resources of the Institute were exhibited at 41 conferences held at various locations nationally and internationally. At the Ninth Congress, for example, representatives of the Institute demonstrated how electronic communications technology could help to improve the dissemination of information and the linking of criminal justice practitioners and officials.

107. In the reporting period, the Institute published 96 documents, including full reports of research and evaluation projects, summary reports, accounts of specific programmes in locales throughout the country, conference proceedings and reports, the NIJ Journal, the publication catalogues of the Institute, the research plan and separate requests for research, the reports of the drug use forecasting programme, and such special publications as the report on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Institute. Some of those publications were prepared in collaboration with other United States government agencies.

108. The Institute has recently made a number of other advances that streamline, expand and speed communication through the use of electronic information technology. All its documents are now published electronically and the "backlist" of previously published documents is being converted to on-line availability. Accessibility is through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, which recently expanded its on-line service. The National Criminal Justice Reference Service electronic bulletin board is accessible via modem and the Internet, and the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Justice Information Center is accessible via the World Wide Web. The International Overview and Guide of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service was updated in November 1994 to include information on on-line services of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service available via modem and Internet.

109. In February 1995, the Institute began publishing twice monthly JUSTINFO, an electronic newsletter of information about recent research findings in criminal justice and related information about programmes and services of the Institute and the other bureaux of the Office of Justice Programs of the United States Department of Justice.

110. The National Institute of Justice is funded by the United States Government, with some of the research supported by the Institute itself through partnerships with various federal government agencies. In the past year technology initiatives of the Institute were augmented by a major appropriation of US$ 37.5 million from the United States Congress to the United States Department of Defense to aid in adapting military technologies to domestic law enforcement use. In the reporting period, some resources came from the Crime Act, while the appropriation from the United States Congress totalled US$ 27 million, of which US$ 11 million was for social science research, US$ 9 million was for research in and the development of science- and technology-based solutions to criminal justice problems and US$ 7 million was for programme development and the dissemination of information.

111. The staff of the Institute currently consists of 61 people, an increase of almost 50 per cent compared with the previous year. The Institute comprises the Office of Research and Evaluation, the Office of Science and Technology and the Office of Development and Dissemination. The two divisions of the Office of Research and Evaluation are (a) Crime Control and Prevention and (b) Criminal Justice and Criminal Behavior. Within the Office of Development and Dissemination are two divisions: one dedicated to publications and the dissemination of activities and the other devoted to establishing pilot programmes, promoting innovations in the field of criminal justice and spotlighting emerging issues. Under the aegis of the Office of Science and Technology, the Institute recently expanded its efforts in science and technology by establishing the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center.

112. The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law is an academic institution founded in 1984 at the University of Lund in Sweden in order to promote research, training and academic education in the fields of human rights and humanitarian law. That objective is being realized by maintaining a research library in public international law, as well as by initiating, developing and supporting other activities in those fields.

113. The Institute is currently involved in a project to produce a series entitled "The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Guides". The guides will facilitate orientation in international human rights standards by presenting the content of substantive standards in a systematic way.

114. The Institute cooperates closely with the Faculty of Law at the University of Lund. Most Doctor of Law candidates in public international law are supervised by professors of the Institute. Visiting professors can be invited to spend a full academic year at the Institute.

115. The Institute, together with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, organized a programme to promote human rights and democratic values in the Burundian gendarmerie. As part of this project, six senior officers of the Burundian gendarmerie participated in a study tour at the Institute and the Swedish Police Headquarters in September 1995 (priority theme C).

116. The Institute continued to be involved in a project to enhance the democratization of the South African police force. The Institute has, inter alia, facilitated the secondment of Swedish senior police officers in a multinational implementation force.

117. Seminars, expert meetings and guest lectures were organized by the Institute on international and regional protection of human rights, administration of justice, refugee law and humanitarian law (priority theme C).

118. The Institute continued its academic programme to disseminate human rights standards and democratic values in developing countries and in eastern and central Europe. An extensive number of training seminars for senior government officials were organized in Burundi, South Africa, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Participants were drawn from, inter alia, ministries, the judiciary, police and prison administration, armed forces, mass media, the academic world and non-governmental organizations (priority theme C).

119. The Institute continued its Advanced International Programme on Human Rights, which in April and May of 1995 brought 25 government officials and academics from developing countries to the Institute for a five-week programme of intensive training in human rights, humanitarian law and refugee law. Similar programmes were organized in March 1995 for government officials from South Africa and in November 1995 for government officials from countries in eastern and central Europe.

120. The library of the Institute has a collection of some 25,000 volumes (including periodicals) on human rights and humanitarian law, as well as public international law in general.

121. The Institute continued its project to improve the collection of material on public international law by donating literature to university libraries and research institutions in developing countries. So far 11 libraries in eastern and southern Africa have received material.

122. A draft training manual on human rights and police has been published by the Institute for pre-testing in various regions. At the same time an annex to the manual, focusing on the international standards in crime prevention and criminal justice and their implementation in national legislation in Burundi, has been published in cooperation with the Burundian gendarmerie (priority theme C).

123. The first volume of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Guides, entitled A Thematic Guide to Documents on the Human Rights of Women: Global and Regional Standards, Adopted by Intergovernmental Organizations, International Non-Governmental Organizations and Professional Associations, was published in 1995.

124. The following two reports were published in the report series of the Institute:

(a) The Equal Status and Human Rights of Women: A Compilation of Country Reports from the Advanced International Programme in Lund, Sweden, 27 September to 14 October 1994 (report No. 20);

(b) Nordic Seminar on Implementation of Humanitarian Law, Lund, 11-12 September 1995 (report No. 21).

125. The two main sources of funding of the Institute are the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The latter finances most of the activities of the Institute carried out in developing countries and in countries in eastern and central Europe.

126. The annual membership conference of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council was held at Courmayeur, Italy, from 15 to 16 October 1995. The annual coordination meeting took place from 17 to 18 October 1995. The meeting was hosted by the Council and organized in cooperation with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch and UNICRI.

127. Several ancillary meetings were held at the Ninth Congress under the auspices of the Council by its resource committees and member organizations. They included the following: a meeting on the role of prosecutors in different contemporary legal systems; two meetings convened by the resource committee on victim protection and assistance (one on the implementation of the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (General Assembly resolution 40/34, annex) and the other on the reintegration of children following armed conflict) and an ancillary meeting on migration and crime.

128. The Council is organizing a major international conference on migration and crime, to be held at Courmayeur in June 1996. A planning meeting for the conference was hosted by the International Institute for Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences at Siracusa on 9 December 1995 (priority theme A). The Council co-sponsored a conference on international criminal justice, organized in cooperation with the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences at Siracusa from 4 to 8 December 1994, and an international meeting on crime and criminal justice in the Mediterranean area, held in Malta in February 1995 (priority theme A).

129. A meeting of experts was held at Noto, Italy, in September 1995, in cooperation with the International Institute for Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, in order to analyse the preliminary results of the research on female offenders in contemporary criminal justice systems and to make appropriate recommendations for its international expansion, using an interdisciplinary approach (priority theme B).

130. The resource committee on correctional systems and rights implemented a major initiative, involving workshops and seminars for prison personnel, using the Basic Training Manual for Correctional Workers, which had been pioneered by the late Luigi Daga and further developed. The workshops and seminars included the first Latin American seminar on penitentiary policy, held at Buenos Aires from 26 to 29 March 1995 in cooperation with the Government of Argentina, which was attended by over 400 participants from countries throughout the region; and a workshop on training and management in correctional systems, organized jointly with Instituto Superior Ibero-Americano de Estudos Criminais at Valença, Brazil from 28 August to 2 September 1995. The Basic Training Manual, which has been translated into Arabic, French, Italian, Portuguese, Somali and Spanish, has been used in, or requested by, the following countries and areas: Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania. Other relevant material and advice on desirable prison reforms and the use of alternatives were also provided (priority theme C).

131. The resource committee on early warning systems, conflict avoidance and dispute resolution submitted a project proposal on conflict resolution, technical assistance and training, which was designed to increase or create capacities in those areas and to sponsor innovative action programmes using dispute resolution techniques, such as community policing.

132. Phase one of a major research project on female offenders in contemporary criminal justice systems was carried out by the resource committee on female offenders (priority theme B). With the help of a working group of the Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale and the Milan-based Istituto per l'Ambiente, the resource committee on the role of penal law in the protection of the environment carried out a project on problems of criminal responsibility and sanctions for environmental violations (priority theme A).

133. Another working group, convened as part of the activities of the resource committee on the rights of the child, including juvenile justice, conducted operational research, the results of which were considered at a meeting of experts on juvenile deviance in urban areas that was held at Milan in December 1995 (priority theme B). Within the resource committee on human rights in criminal justice, including standards, norms and guidelines, monitoring and implementation, the PIOOM Foundation is developing training materials, such as a manual on human rights training for law enforcement practitioners and other manuals (priority theme C).

134. The coordinator of the resource committee on victimization prevention and protection of victims compiled and edited International Responses to Traumatic Stress: Humanitarian, Human Rights, Justice, Peace and Development Contributions, Collaborative Actions and Future Initiatives [Note 9: Yael Danieli, Nigel S. Rodley and Lars Weisæth, eds., International Responses to Traumatic Stress: Humanitarian, Human Rights, Justice, Peace and Development Contributions, Collaborative Actions and Future Initiatives (Amityville, New York, Baywood Publishing Company, 1996).] to commemorate the Fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations (priority theme B).

135. The Functional Committee of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council has sought to strengthen the information and clearing-house functions of the Council by further close cooperation with the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network and the World Criminal Justice Library Network. The coordinator and some other members of the committee took part in the third meeting of the World Criminal Justice Library Network, held at Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, in May 1995. The meeting was hosted by the police college of Baden-Württemberg (priority theme C).

136. The Council has become a functional member of the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network, with access to the Internet, the database of the Network, including the results of the United Nations surveys of crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems, crime and justice profiles and United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, as well as other relevant information. A world survey on the availability of criminal justice statistics worldwide is being carried out by the coordinator of the functional committee. The assistance rendered to the Council by the National Institute of Justice of the United States Department of Justice to facilitate its participation in UNOJUST, the on-line crime and justice clearing-house, should also help to develop the capacity of the Council in this respect, together with the information service of the non-governmental organization alliances.

137. A number of publications were issued with the assistance of the Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale and other collaborating institutions, such as the Arab Security Studies and Training Centre, which published the ISPAC Newsletter. The special publications of the Council included a volume on migration and crime, prepared in connection with an ancillary meeting held within the framework of the Ninth Congress with the help of the PIOOM Foundation; a volume on the colloquium on criminal justice management, published with support from the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation; and the Basic Training Manual for Correctional Workers, to be made available in other languages besides English.

138. The administrative support for the operations of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council is provided by six staff members of the Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale at Milan, where the secretariat of the Council is located. The substantive support to the work of the Council is provided by the Chairman, the members of the Board and the coordinators of the resource committees on a voluntary basis without any remuneration. Members of the Council, including individual experts, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations, also contribute voluntarily to the activities of the Council. The activities of the Council have been limited by its severe resource constraints and a cut in the basic grant provided by the Government of Italy through the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund. The available resources were utilized primarily on a cost-sharing basis for the different activities of the council. The total budget of the Council amounts to the equivalent of 250 million lire per year. Additional voluntary contributions by local entities, including the Fondazione Courmayeur Mont Blanc Centro Internazionale su Diritto, Società e Economia, allowed the Council to meet the full costs of its activities.