Consultant – Guidelines for the development of a system of criminal justice statistics

Result of Service

Under the supervision of the Research and Trend Analysis Branch/Data Development and Dissemination Section (UNODC/RAB/DDDS), the consultant will work closely with the Statistician to undertake the following activities:

• Develop a template to collect and critically review criminal justice data practices of Member States; liaise and engage with necessary national institutions to gather data and information.
• Compile a series of compelling case studies (minimum 4) that showcase the diverse range of Member States’ data collection practices ranging from countries that would require a complete overhaul to those that would only need to expand existing data collection efforts.
• Review international standards, manuals and guidelines on relevant principles, requirements and organizational models for the development of a system of criminal justice statistics.
• Draft a series of minimum recommendations that provide a path forward for Member States in the development of a system for criminal justice statistics.
• Draft the first version of the guidelines according to the agreed outline.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

6 March - 26 May 2023 (with possibility of extension)

Duties and Responsibilities

In 2015, the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) and the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UN-CCPCJ) endorsed the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) . The ICCS is the international standard for defining and classifying criminal offences for the purpose of producing and disseminating statistical data on crime and criminal justice.

While the ICCS is an instrument to produce harmonized crime and criminal justice data across criminal justice institutions, more guidance is needed to promote data integration and offer a common basis to use data in order to attain shared policy goals and promote trust. This includes an expanded set of statistics that can provide high quality information on the effectiveness and efficiency of operations by the various entities. Moreover, it includes guidance on good data governance that covers practical data aspects (i.e. the collection, storage, access, maintenance, (re-)use and interoperability of data), the formulation of policy and the division of roles.

Building on the process to implement the ICCS at country level and conscious of the need to update existing methodological guidance (such as the 2003 United Nations Manual for the Development of a System of Criminal Justice Statistics ), a set of new tools is being developed by UNODC that will provide guidance to institutions of the criminal justice system (police, prosecution/courts, and prison/correction administrations) to collect data, produce statistics and disseminate high quality statistical evidence in compliance with, and in addition to, the ICCS.

The consultant will support UNODC/DDDS in the development of guidelines that promote good data governance, takes into account select country contexts and provide a path forward to improve the production of statistics in the criminal justice sector. More reliable and comprehensive statistics on crime and criminal justice will help Governments to assess and monitor crime and its consequences more accurately. Each component of the criminal justice system produces large quantities of administrative data, but only when this data is transformed into statistics do, they provide valuable information for decision making. The requirements for such a system of criminal justice statistics, different organizational models, data governance considerations, and the collection and processing of statistics are key elements that must be fully outlined in order to successfully develop an interoperable national system of criminal justice statistics.

The consultant will collect a series of case studies on existing IT solutions in institutions of the criminal justice system across a select group of Member States to assess their suitability to produce high quality and comprehensive statistics. Additionally, the consultant will review existing international methodological guidance, produce relevant data governance principles and minimum requirements for the development of a system of criminal justice statistics applicable to all actors involved in the system, and draft an analytical report. The analytical report will identify key requirements that should be in place to ensure effectiveness, security and transparency of such systems and to ensure they are suitable for the intended purpose of producing statistics and indicators identified in the three guidelines.

The work of the consultant will complement three (3) specific guidelines being developed for each of the institutions of the criminal justice system (police, prosecution/courts, and prison/correction administrations). These three guidelines focus on providing a statistical framework for measurement with a basic set of variables, while the work of the consultant will focus on producing an analytical report that provides key recommendations on how to sustainably build a secure system of criminal justice statistics recognizing different levels of development. This analytical report will focus on how to build such a system, rather than the kind of data to collect.

Qualifications/special skills

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in applied data governance, statistics, computer science, criminology, social sciences or related fields is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of experience with the management of inter-agency data collection systems at the national or international level is required.
• Experience with the development of data governance principles at the national or international level is required.
• Demonstrated analytical, research, writing and communication skills are required.
• Experience in data exchange and system interoperability is desirable.
• Experience in handling diverse criminal justice statistics is desirable.
• Knowledge of multilateral processes and experience working at an international organization, or an internationally recognized think tank is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English, with excellent drafting and communication skills, is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.