Home – Home – Jornals – Scientific journal “Vestnik NSUEM” 2015 number 4

The harmful impact of criminalization on social and economic institutions, violence that tends to increase both in the real world and cyberspace as well as growing transnational crime produce the demand for reliable data on the current state and statistical assessment of this phenomenon for comprehensive understanding of the factors contributing to its sustainability. So, intensive international efforts aimed at developing common approaches to confront crime are of paramount importance. It is argued that the problem solution requires the international preventive cooperation for the urgent creation of the UNO-sponsored information resources - a data bank on the crime rates in the world, its separate regions and countries, and the appropriate judiciary activities on the basis of the comparable international classification of crimes for statistical purposes. Having analyzed the international statistical conventions, regulations and our predecessors’ research results, we found out that initially the issue of comparable crime statistics in different countries was referred to as both theoretical and practical. The growing urgency of this problem was acknowledged by the United Nations, and in 1951 the idea to develop a «standard classification of offenses» was put forward. The UNO Social Commission stressed the importance of its preparation, so that «the governments could submit statistical reports on crime within the standard timeframe». The demand for methodological standards such as the international classification of crimes for statistical purposes (the classifier) unanimously recognized by the international community became relevant. With the set invariance of the quantitative component of the statistical method taken into account, the objective (qualitative) component lays a cornerstone for the development of a standard classifier of crimes followed by its practical implementation in the UNO member states. The concluding issues cover the notion of classification both as a core element in the development of the statistical data program that ensures comparability of statistical data, and its properties in relation to the international classification of crimes for statistical purposes, as well as its qualitative features, goals, objectives and principles. Attention is drawn to the fact that the countries are required to consider the same version of the standard classifier for adjusting their national classifications to the draft classifier which is under discussion by the international community. Specific proposals are made to improve the draft classifier taking into account the peculiarities of national criminal law and legal acts that regulate the organization of statistical activities.