Summary
THINGS IN COMMON |
THINGS DIVERSE |
The legal systems of over half the countries of the world are the product of the civil law tradition. |
The common law tradition is the next most common basis of legal systems, followed by Islamic law, and various combinations of Islamic, civil and common law. |
Elements of criminal justice systems such as the police, courts, and prisons are found in all countries, albeit their names may be different. |
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The police are the front end of the criminal justice system. |
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In all countries, most people who come in contact with the criminal justice system are males. |
Differences among countries in the involvement with the criminal justice system vary by age and gender. The suspect rate varied between a low of 43 in Madagascar and a high of 5011 in Chile per 100,000 population. |
Adult males constitute the largest group of suspects in all countries. |
The ratio between adult male suspects and suspects of other age-gender group varies among countries. In Western Samoa there were 91 adult male suspects for each adult female suspect and in Bolivia there were only two adult male suspects for each adult female suspect. There were 79 juvenile males for each juvenile female suspect in Georgia and only two juvenile male per juvenile female suspect in Jamaica. |
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There were far fewer women and girls suspected of committing crimes in countries with low income than in those with high income. |
In most countries about half the suspects or those prosecuted are found guilty and convicted of an offence. |
The conviction rate varies across countries, with a low in Japan of 47 and a high in Egypt of 7371 per 100,000 population. The ratio of male to female conviction rate is higher in low income countries than in high income countries. |