Applicability of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in the Latin American and Caribbean Region (From Resource Material Series, No. 67, P 25-47, 2005 -- See NCJ-214096)

• NCJ Number: 214098
• Author(s): Christina Rojas Rodriguez
• Date Published: December 2005
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

This paper examines the application and implementation of the United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in an extremely ethnically diverse and impoverished region, Latin American and the Caribbean.

Abstract

Efforts to implement more equitable standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice in the Latin American and Caribbean Region are just beginning. Today, the Principles and Guidelines of the United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice are awaiting implementation in this region. The goal is the efficient execution of these standards and norms in the future. This paper reviews the current situation of the application of the U.N. Standards and Norms in Latin America and the Caribbean Region, specifically the current situation of prison administration and systems for securing transparency and accountability in the administration of penitentiary institutions and their implementation. The Latin American and Caribbean Region are identified as the cradle of many different ethnicities. In this Region, there is a very rich elite group with the majority of the population impoverished. With the increased socio-economic inequalities and the lack of economic and human resources, the administration of justice systems has weakened. This has caused increased concern in the violation of prisoners’ rights, with more than half of all prisoners being held in pretrial detention.