Assessment of criminal justice systems

What: Technical needs assessments of criminal justice systems or their components, for example victim support systems, legal aid, and the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

Why: Technical assistance may be needed to develop effective, rational and humane criminal justice systems based on United Nations standards and norms, and in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Technical assistance has to be based on a thorough needs assessment.

Methodology: Quantitative research (interviews of the criminal justice actors, representatives of non-governmental organizations, etc.), quantitative analyses of criminal justice data, desk research on the legislative framework and adherence to international instruments, including United Nations standards and norms in criminal justice.

HEUNI’s work has resulted in:

An assessment of criminal justice services provided for victims of domestic violence in Viet Nam: An assessment of the quality and availability of criminal justice services provided for victims of domestic violence. The research also explored the views of police officers and legal aid officers, and victims of domestic violence. HEUNI was responsible for developing the research plan and methodology, developing the questionnaires, training key people in Viet Nam and commenting on the manuscript.

Adaptation to Russian circumstances of the International Prison Policy Development Instrument.

EU Cards: in cooperation with UNODC, HEUNI prepared a research report on seven countries in the Western Balkans, outlining their criminal justice data collection mechanisms. The report discussed crime definitions and statistical systems, including within the police, prosecution, and courts, as well as survey-data, asylum, visa and migration statistical systems. The study also presented a checklist for justice and home affairs statistics collection. UNODC