Kosovo (Under UNSCR 1244) Statistical Training

1
Kosovo (Under UNSCR 1244) Statistical Training

• Prosecution / Courts
• Session 6, October 7th, 14.45 16.00
• Overview of the Criminal Justice System and
  Statistics Publication of results, analysis and
  interpretation

2
Publications, analysis and interpretation

1. Some general notions
2. A description of the Dutch situation
3. Specific remarks and recommendations(to be
   discussed!)

3
Importance of publicising statistics

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

4
Avoiding political interference

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

5
Publications, analysis and interpretation

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

6
Publications, analysis and interpretation

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

7
Publications, analysis and interpretation

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

8
Publications, analysis and interpretation

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

9
Publications, analysis and interpretation

• Specific remarks and recommendations (3)
• In presenting data over time, changes in the time
  series could be attributed to system changes.
  This should be clearly commented upon.
• A publication in English could be very useful,
  but
• Translation is not easy
• More explanation is needed
• Recommendation aim for a shorter English version

10
Publications, analysis and interpretation

• Specific remarks and recommendations (4)
• Dissemination can take the following forms
• Regular publications on paper
• Regular publications on Internet
• Answering specific requests
• Providing raw, individual data
• The last two need personnel with a good knowledge
  of both the Criminal Justice field and Statistics

11
Publications, analysis and interpretation

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

12
Kosovo (Under UNSCR 1244) Statistical Training

• Prosecution / Courts
• Session 6, October 7th, 14.45 16.00
• Overview of the Criminal Justice System and
  Statistics Publication of results, analysis and
  interpretation