FIFTH UNITED NATIONS SURVEY OF CRIME TRENDS AND OPERATIONS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS CODEBOOK FOR THE FIFTH U.N. SURVEY DATA (1990-1994) Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division United Nations Office at Vienna P.O. Box 500 A-1400 Vienna Austria TABLE OF CONTENTS I. ABOUT THE FIFTH SURVEY .................................................................................. 3 II. DATA DISKETTES ................................................................................................... 6 III. DEFINITION OF TERMS ......................................................................................... 7 IV. CODEBOOKS FOR FIFTH SURVEY DATA ......................................................... 10 V. FOOTNOTES ............................................................................................................. 11 I. ABOUT THE FIFTH SURVEY INTRODUCTION A. Legislative background 1. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1984/48 of 25 May 1984, requested the Secretary-General to maintain and develop the United Nations crime-related database by continuing to conduct the surveys of crime trends, operations of criminal justice systems and crime prevention strategies. In its resolution 1990/18 of 24 May 1990, the Council recommended, inter alia, that the survey should be simplified, and called upon Member States to endeavour to provide more complete responses to it. The subsequent questionnaire for the Fourth Survey and the present questionnaire for the Fifth Survey draw on the above recommendation. The questionnaire for the Fifth Survey contains some further modifications in the introductory section and in some of the tables. B. Publications on the results of previous surveys 2. The results of the four previous surveys were made available in documents A132/199, A/CONF.121/18 and Corr.l, A/CONF.144/6 and A/CONF.169/15 and in various publications.* Regional analyses of the survey data were published by the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), the Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI) and the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.** The data collected in the first, second, third, and fourth surveys are available on 3 « inch SPSSPC+ format floppy discs free of charge from the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, United Nations Office at Vienna, P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria (fax numbers: 43-1-232156 and 43-1-213455898), as per attached order form in section E below. These are also available as World Wide Web files on the computerized United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN) at http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/~unciin/uncjin.html Selected analyses of the data have been published by the Statistical Office of the Secretariat*** and in the UNCJIN Crime and Justice Letter under the title "Trends: The Global View of Crime and Justice" (special issue, 1991). Further details about accessing these information sources may be obtained from the UNCJIN Systems Operator at the address noted above. C. Objectives of the Fifth Survey and questionnaire design 3. The major goal of the Fifth United Nations Survey is to collect data on the incidence of reported crime and the operations of criminal justice systems with a view to improving the dissemination of that information globally. To that end, the Survey should facilitate an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system so as to promote informed decision making in its administration, nationally and cross-nationally. 4. This Survey questionnaire consists of a series of questions which ask for data, primarily statistical, on the main components of the criminal justice system, for the years 1990 to 1994. The instructions given in the following paragraphs should be carefully studied in order to complete the questionnaire effectively. D. Completion of replies 5. Some countries may not be in a position to provide complete answers. This problem has been considered by the Secretariat at all stages of preparation of the questionnaire. In order to facilitate preparations of the reply, the attention of offices responsible for the submission of the data is drawn to the Manual for the Development o/Criminal Justice Statistics, which is based on the information provided by Member States in the course of the Second Survey.* The Manual may be helpful in preparing the returns to the present survey. 6. The most important sources of data necessary to complete the questionnaire are expected to be official national criminal statistics, including criminal justice statistics maintained in administrative records. The questionnaire follows the sequence of the different agencies that are encountered by an offender passing through the system. Whether the statistics required are most easily accessible from the records of the individual agencies or from one central data bank will vary from country to country. The questionnaire is compiled in such a way that it can be broken down and sent to separate agencies, and reassembled in a central office before it is returned. Consequently, it would be important for this central office to review partial replies to ascertain that the data collected in the official return cover clearly defined jurisdictions (such as national or federal) and are statistically valid. In this connection, it is important to review all parts of the survey for consistency. The experience of the Fourth Survey showed that in some replies there were: (a) the same figures given in two parts of the questionnaire; (b) figures representing criminal justice operations of agencies further down the system that were higher than corresponding figures of preceding agencies; and (c) no explanations given in cases of significant statistical changes. In these cases, the Secretariat sent requests for validation of data. This process was very time-consuming for all those involved in the provision and analysis of the data and considerably delayed completion of the project. In order to promptly complete the Fifth Survey and to initiate preparation for the Sixth Survey, respondents are requested to take those factors into account. 7. For each agency, the questions are divided into: (a) those that are relevant to the statistical questions but are in part administrative or policy questions, that is, questions on what data are kept and in what form; and (b) the straightforward statistical questions themselves. It will be a matter for the coordinating officer in each country to establish whether all the questions can be answered by the same office or whether the sections of the questionnaire will have to be subdivided. It will assist greatly in the recording of the results if the parts are returned together, even if they were separated at the time of being completed. 8. If figures provided in one table differ significantly from one year to the next, please explain the discrepancy in notes to the table. If it is not possible to supply the figures as classified or defined in the tables, please try to adjust data as far as possible and describe the steps involved in notes to the table or on the facing pages. Where figures are not yet available, provisional data or estimates, if possible, should be inserted and noted accordingly. If a table can be completed only in part, please note in the appropriate section that the rest of the data are "not available". If no figures at all are available, please indicate by writing across the space for reply "not yet available", "not tabulated" or "not collected", as the case may be. Respondents should make every effort possible to collect the requested information from various sources and registers, however widespread. 9. Statistics on such matters as criminal justice personnel, court actions and prison population should extend to all levels of government, that is, central government as well as national, state and local authorities. Where data or estimates for some or all state and local authorities are not available, the available data should be provided and the limitation in coverage noted. 10. In most cases, the data requested use the calendar year as the recording period. Where some other annual period, such as a fiscal year not corresponding to the calendar year, is used, this should be noted. In general, any event recorded in the period covered by this survey should be included in the data for that period, even though the event may actually have occurred in an earlier period. Some other data, for example on personnel, are requested as of 31 December of each year. If some alternative reference date has to be used, however, this should be shown in each applicable table. Should the data for the year 1990 provided in the present survey differ from the data for 1990 previously included in the Fourth Survey, please explain the discrepancy. 11. Partial, and even limited, responses are very important, and the return of such responses will be of great benefit in this exercise. Returning offices are also invited to provide types of data that are not requested in the questionnaire, but that are considered essential for understanding the extent of crime and the structure of criminal justice in their country. In particular, any fundamental changes in the criminal justice legislation or administration since 1990 should be reported briefly in a separate note. Please include any major political, social or economic events that may have had an effect (positive or negative) on the criminal justice system. 12. The identification of contact persons who have provided data for the complete questionnaire and its component parts, would be most helpful. Please provide such an identification where requested. 13. Requests for any clarification or further information in respect of this questionnaire should be addressed to the Chief, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, United Nations Office at Vienna, P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Requests can also be made through the following fax numbers: 43-1-232156 and 43-1-21345-5898; and Internet e-mail: sredo@cpcjb.un.or.at . II. DATA DISKETTES The data diskettes contain all of the data received (by 31 January 1997) in response to the Fifth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems. Each data file is an SPSS/PC for Windows (6.1) system file. The codebooks are saved as ASCII (DOS) text. Altogether, there are 16 separate data files included on the diskettes. Those wishing to analyze data from multiple data files at the same time will have to merge the files using the "MERGE DATA" command in SPSS/PC for Windows (6.1). Each country has an identification number (IDNUMBER) that is used on every data file that should be used as the key matching variable when merging data files from the Fifth Survey. Each country also has a country code (COUNTRY) that is used on every data file that should be used as the key matching variable when merging data files from the Fourth Survey with data files from the Fifth Survey. Below is a brief description of the data contained in each data file. More elaborate descriptions of the data can be found in the codebooks for each data file. 5ARESOUR.SAV Criminal Justice Resources (Question 27) 5BPOLICE.SAV Police Personnel (Question 1) 5CCRIMES.SAV Number of Reported Crimes (Question 2) 5DCITY.SAV Crime in the Largest Cities (Question 3) 5EFORMAL.SAV Number of People with Formal Contact with the Criminal Justice System (Question 4) 5FAGESUS.SAV Age/Gender of Suspects (Question 5) 5GPROSEC.SAV Prosecutors and Prosecutions (Questions 6 and 7) 5HPROSEC.SAV Prosecutions by Age/Gender (Question 8) 5ICOURTS.SAV Judges and the Criminal Courts (Questions 9, 10, 11, and 13) 5JCONVIC.SAV Number of People Convicted of Crimes (Question 14 and 15) 5KPRISON.SAV Prisoners and Prison Sentences (Questions 16 and 17) 5LPRISON.SAV Average Sentence Lengths (Questions 18, 19, 20, and 21) 5MPRISON.SAV Prison Personnel (Questions 22 and 23) 5NPRISON.SAV Prison Admissions for All Crimes (Question 24) 5OPRISON.SAV Prison Admissions by Age/Gender (Questions 25 and 26) 5PPOP.SAV Population and UNDP Development Level Data III. DEFINITION OF TERMS The following definitions are suggested as being applicable to many legal codes. *Intentional homicide* refers to death deliberately inflicted on a person by another person, including infanticide. Please indicate whether certain categories of attempted homicide are charged for prosecuted as "aggravated assault". *Non-intentional homicide* refers to death not deliberately inflicted on a person by another person. This includes the crime of manslaughter, but excludes traffic accidents that result in the death of persons. *Assault* refers to physical attack against the body of another person, including battery but excluding indecent assault. Some criminal or penal codes distinguish between aggravated and simple assault depending on the degree of resulting injury. Please provide the major criterion for this distinction if it applies in your country. *Rape* refers to sexual intercourse without valid consent. Please indicate whether statutory rape is included in the figures provided. If your country distinguishes between sexual assault and actual penetration, please provide relevant information. *Theft* refers to the removal of property without the property owner's consent. Theft excludes burglary and housebreaking. It includes the theft of a motor vehicle. Shoplifting and other minor offences, e.g. pilfering and petty theft, may or may not be included as thefts. Please provide relevant information if a distinction is made in your country. *Robbery* refers to the theft of property from a person, overcoming resistance by force or threat of force. *Burglary* refers to unlawful entry into someone else's premises with an intention to commit crime. *Fraud* refers to the acquisition of the property of another by deception. Please indicate whether the fraudulent obtaining of financial property is included in the figures provided. *Embezzlement* refers to the wrongful appropriation of property of another which is already in one's possession. *Drug-related crimes* refer to intentional acts that may involve the cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation and exportation of drugs and psychotropic substances. Where applicable, countries may wish to refer to the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and other regulations adopted in pursuance of the provisions of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 19712 and/or the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.3 As simple possession and illicit traffic are treated differently in different legal codes, separate statistics on possession and traffic are requested. *Bribery and corruption* refers to requesting and/or acceptance of a material or personal benefit, or promise thereof, in connection with the performance of a public function for an action that may or may not be a violation of law and/or promising as well as giving material or personal benefit to a public officer in exchange for a requested favour. *Other* refers to serious types of cr~me that are completely different from those listed above, and that are regarded as serious and frequent enough to require a separate category in the criminal statistics of your country (e.g. arson, kidnaping, conspiracy or membership of a criminal association). Please insert such crimes under question 11 and provide a definition, with an explanation or description in the space immediately below on this page or on an additional page. Should there be different types of crimes included under this item throughout all parts of the questionnaire, please provide an explanation. *Crimes recorded by the police* refer to the number of penal code offences or their equivalent, i.e. various special law offences, but excluding minor road traffic and other petty offences, brought to the attention of the police or other law enforcement agencies and recorded by one of those agencies. *Police or law enforcement* sector refers to public agencies whose principal functions are the prevention, detection and investigation of crime and the apprehension of alleged offenders. If the police are part of the national security force in your country, please try to limit as far as possible replies to the civil police proper as distinct from national guards or local militia. If there are many local forces, please provide data on them if possible. If some personnel of this sector fulfil prosecution functions, please note accordingly in the space below table 27a. *Prosecutor* refers to a government official whose duty is to initiate and maintain criminal proceedings on behalf of the state against persons accused of committing a criminal offence. Countries differ in whether a prosecutor is a member of a separate agency, or a member of the police or judiciary. Please indicate the title of the agency in your country under which the prosecutor functions. If more than one criminal justice system operates in your country, for example federal/provincial systems or civilian/martial systems, please provide separate information about prosecutorial functions in each system. *Persons prosecuted* refers to alleged offenders prosecuted against by means of an official charge, initiated by the public prosecutor or the law enforcement agency responsible for prosecution. *Persons convicted* refers to persons found guilty by any legal body duly authorized to do so under national law, whether the conviction was later upheld or not. If persons are convicted by any agency other than the courts, please state which agency, and provide statistical details in the space following tables 14 and 15. In those tables "Grand total" number of convicted includes serious special law offences but excludes minor road traffic and other petty offences. *Judges and magistrates* refers to both full and part-time officials authorized to hear civil, criminal and other cases, including appeal courts, and make dispositions in a court of law. Please include also associate judges and magistrates, who may be authorized as above, within this category. Lay judges and magistrates refer to persons performing the same functions as the professional officials but who do not consider themselves, and are not normally considered by others, as career members of the judiciary. *Prisons* refer to all public and privately-financed institutions where persons are deprived of their liberty. These institutions could include, but are not limited to, penal, correctional, or psychiatric facilities. *Admissions to prisons* refer to the number of such events throughout the year and not the number of people admitted on a particular day of the year. If the categories given in the paragraphs above are not fully compatible with your national legal code, please try to adjust data as far as possible. Alternatively, indicate what kinds of crime your statistics include which might be comparable to the categories suggested, or how the parallel crime is defined in your country and describe this below the table or on the facing page. IV. CODEBOOKS FOR FIFTH SURVEY DATA Codebooks containing variable labels and a dictionary for each data file are contained in 16 separate ASCII (DOS) text files. A listing of these codebook files and the data files to which they refer is provided below. 5ACODEBO.TXT -- 5ARESOUR.SAV 5BCODEBO.TXT -- 5BPOLICE.SAV 5CCODEBO.TXT -- 5CCRIMES.SAV 5DCODEBO.TXT -- 5DCITY.SAV 5ECODEBO.TXT -- 5EFORMAL.SAV 5FCODEBO.TXT -- 5FAGESUS.SAV 5GCODEBO.TXT -- 5GPROSEC.SAV 5HCODEBO.TXT -- 5HPROSEC.SAV 5ICODEBO.TXT -- 5ICOURTS.SAV 5JCODEBO.TXT -- 5JCONVICT.SAV 5KCODEBO.TXT -- 5KPRISON.SAV 5LCODEBO.TXT -- 5LPRISON.SAV 5MCODEBO.TXT -- 5MPRISON.SAV NCODEBOK.TXT -- NPRISON.SAV OCODEBOK.TXT -- OPRISON.SAV PCODEBOK.TXT -- PPOP.SAV V. FOOTNOTES *See Trends in Crime and Criminal Justice, 1970-1985, in the Context of Socio-economic Change. Results of the Second United Nations Survey of Crime Trends, Operations of Criminal Justice Systems and Crime Prevention Strategies (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.92.IV.3) and Crime Trends and Criminal Justice Operations at the Regional and Interregional Levels. Results of the Third United Nations Survey of Crime Trends, Operations of Criminal Justice Systems and Crime Prevention Strategies (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.IV.2). For a full list ofpublications, see "United Nations surveys of crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems (1970-1995)" (A/CONF.169/CRP.2), available from the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch. **See European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, Criminal Justice Systems in Europe, Publication Series No. 5 (Helsinki, 1985), Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America, Publication Series No. 17 (Helsinki, 1990), Crime and Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America 1986-1990, Publication Series No. 25 (Helsinki, I 995) and Profiles of Criminal Justice Systems in Europe and North America, Publication Series No. 26 (Helsinki, 1995); "Delineation of crucial issues of criminal justice in Asia,' (A/CONF. 12 1/UNAFEI), document prepared by the Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders for the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders; Crime and Justice in Asia and the Pacific (Canberra and Tokyo, 1990); and "Crime prevention in the context of development", document prepared by the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Spanish version: "Tercer estudio de las Naciones Unidas sobre tendencies delictivas, funcionamiento de sistemas de justicia penal y estrategias de prevencion del delito"). ***See Compendium of Social Statistics and Indicators 1988 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E/F.91.XVII.6). ****See Manual for the Development of Criminal Justice Statistics (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.86.XVII.16).