NCJ Number
82674
Date Published
1981
Length
90 pages
Annotation
The Congress' conclusions and recommendations cover crime prevention strategies and crime trends, development of crime and justice statistics, juvenile justice standards, alternatives to imprisonment, torture and inhuman treatment, police codes of conduct, and other related issues.
Abstract
The Congress' declaration resolves that all member States should increase efforts to eliminate social conditions that breed crime and to collect accurate crime and justice statistics. In juvenile justice, the Congress opposes most pretrial detention and incarceration of juveniles with adults. It encourages development of juvenile justice standards and research on the causes of delinquency. The Congress condemns execution and torture of political opponents and suspected offenders and suggests further development of guidelines regarding governmental abuse of power. Other recommendations include development of alternatives to imprisonment, shorter prison sentences, development of extradition procedures, guidelines for selection and training of judges and prosecutors, and more. Several delegations warned of abuses of information systems, suggested that 'target hardening' approaches are effective deterrents, and recommended that guidelines be devised for community-based treatment of offenders. Draft proposals are outlined; a list of conference documents is appended.