Classification Detail
International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) Version 1.0
Basic Bibliographic Information
Status:
Operational
Type:
To Be Determined
Citation:
International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS), version 1.0, March 2015, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
ISBN:
N/A
Website:
Custodian:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Available Formats:
Print, PDF, Word, Excel
Year Adopted:
2015
Year Published:
2015
Available Languages (besides English):
Français, Español, العربية, Pусский, 中文 Details...
Français
Classification internationale des infractions à des fins statistiques Version 1.0
Español
Clasificación Internacional de Delitos con Fines Estadísticos Versión 1.0
العربية
-
Pусский
Международная классификация преступлений для статистических целей вариант 1.0
中文
-
Availability:
Fully available in all of the languages above
Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domains:
1.8 Justice and crime
Purpose:
To enhance the consistency and international comparability of crime statistics, and improve analytical capabilities at both the national and international levels
Main Applications:
The ICCS provides a framework for the systematic production and comparison of statistical data across different criminal justice institutions and jurisdictions. This means that the ICCS is applicable to all forms of crime data, whatever the stage of the criminal justice process (police, prosecution, conviction, imprisonment) at which they are collected, as well as to data collected in crime victimization surveys.
Main Users:
Governments, ministries of interior, justice, security and public order, law enforcement and criminal justice institutions, judicial bodies, research institutions, academia, international organizations, media
Methodology
Scope:
'Crime' is considered by the ICCS to be the punishable contravention or violation of the limits on human behaviour as imposed by national criminal legislation.
Concept Being Classified:
activities
Statistical Units:
The unit of classification of the ICCS is the act that constitutes a criminal offence. The description of the criminal offence is provided in terms of the behaviour shown by the perpetrator(s) of a crime. Besides classifying criminal offences, the ICCS can also be used in relation to other events or conditions related to the criminal justice process, such as arrests, prosecutions, convictions and prison sentences, as well as persons involved as perpetrators or victims.
Main Principles:
Mutual exclusivity, exhaustiveness, statistical feasibility.
Classification Structure
Definition of Structure:
Level:
Level Name:
Code Format:
Number of Items:
Level 1
Section
01
11 items
Level 2
Division
0101
63 items
Level 3
Group
01031
162 items
Level 4
Class
010321
229 items
Criteria for Definition of Levels:
A number of criteria have been used to build the hierarchical structure of the ICCS, in the attempt to build categories that can respond to a variety of information needs. In particular, the following criteria have been used to form categories of the ICCS:
• policy area of the act/event (protection of property rights, protection of health, etc.)
• target of the act/event (e.g. person, object, natural environment, State, etc.)
• seriousness of the act/event (e.g. acts leading to death, acts causing harm, etc.)
• means by which the act/event is perpetrated (e.g. by violence, threat of violence, etc.).
Revision Information
Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:
Year Adopted:
Title or Version Number:
Website:
Official Adopting Entity:
UN Statistical Commission
Coordinating Entity:
Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the ICCS
Supporting Documents
Coding Index Available:
Yes
Index Website:
Available Formats:
PDF
Training Materials and Other Documents:
N/A
Contact Information
Agency / Office:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Unit:
Research and Trend Analysis Branch
Contact Name:
Angela Me
Email:
Website:
Telephone:
Tel: +43 (0)1 260605273
Address:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
PO Box 500 1400 Vienna
Austria
web: www.unodc.org
Comments
The United Nations Statistical Commission, at its 46th session in March 2015, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its 24th session in May 2015 have endorsed the ICCS as an international statistical standard for data collection, both from administrative records and survey generated data, and as an analytical tool to elicit unique information on crime drivers and factors. The two Commissions have also confirmed UNODC as the custodian of the ICCS.