INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIME FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES (ICCS)

The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) provides a comprehensive framework for producing statistics on crime and criminal justice. Its primary unit of classification is the act or event that constitutes a criminal offence and the description of the criminal acts is based on behaviours and not on legal provisions.

The ICCS is the tool to understand crime extent and drivers. Also, it is a formidable tool to improve quality of data on crime and criminal justice at national level and to support national efforts to monitor SDG targets in the areas of public security and safety, trafficking, corruption, and access to justice. The ICCS was endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission, at its 46th session in March 2015, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) at its 24th session in May 2015 as an international statistical standard for data collection. The two Commissions have also confirmed UNODC as the custodian of the ICCS.

Download ICCS version 1.0 in: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

For an introduction to ICCS, its main features and how it helps improve the quality and granularity of crime and criminal justice statistics, please refer to the ICCS eLearning course (available for free upon registration). The course is available in English, French and Spanish.

Implementation Tools

ICCS Highlights

Correspondence table template (Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish)

The correspondence table template is a model for mapping the behaviors/categories/variables or crime indicators at the national level into their respective ICCS categories. The columns of the correspondence table format that refer to the ICCS are pre-filled. The rest of the table leaves space for relevant national information and metadata to be entered. For an example of how to fill in the correspondence table, please refer to the correspondence table example file (English only).

Roadmap for the Implementation of the ICCS in National Contexts

To support countries in planning the implementation of the ICCS in national statistics systems on crime and criminal justice, UNODC has drafted the following model "Roadmap for the Implementation of the ICCS in national contexts" which lists the most important steps that countries need to consider for progressively applying the ICCS in national statistics on crime and criminal justice. The Roadmap was discussed on the Virtual Platform and its wide-spread applicability in different national contexts was confirmed by national focal points currently working on applying the ICCS in their respective countries.

Implementation of ICCS codes in UN-CTS

UN-CTS is UNODC's primary instrument for collecting crime data. In 2017, it was revised to become fully consistent with the concepts, categories, and definitions of the ICCS and to respond to emerging data needs at national and international level, including data needs deriving from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the areas of crime, violence, justice and the rule of law under UNODC mandate. Making the UN-CTS fully aligned with the ICCS should incentivise countries to adapt their national statistics on crime and criminal justice to the language, codes, and structure of the ICCS to allow for better comparability of data across countries.

Survey on State of ICCS Implementation

A short survey was conducted on ICCS-TAG Virtual Platform to assess progress of ICCS implementation in the countries. Results from the survey indicated that 70% of countries responding to the survey already having a National Focal Point appointed for ICCS implementation and slightly less than half (46%) already having a national working group established. While 56% of countries that responded had at least started an assessment of their current data production to explore the status of national crime statistics, only 44% had already started to identify all categories in the ICCS that are neither criminal offences nor administrative infractions in their country.

EU guidelines for the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes - ICCS

The guidelines presents the structure of the ICCS, its classification principles and its relations to existing classifications, to facilitate the implementation of the ICCS. Also, it provides a brief overview of concrete organizational and technical tasks for a successful implementation of the ICCS at the national level, which should engage all crime data users and data providers. In addition, an implementation strategy through the creation of a correspondence table, a tabulation of all offence categories in the ICCS linked to all offences on the national level, is briefly described.

Analytical Briefs & Brochures

ICCS Brief #3		ICCS and organized crime [EN]

ICCS Brief #2		Measuring cybercrime through the ICCS lens [EN] [ES]

ICCS Brief #1		Attrition of offences related to organized crime in the criminal justice system [EN] [ES]

ICCS Flyer		Every crime counts

Briefing Note		Unlawful killings in conflict situations

Briefing Note		Measuring violence against women and other gender issues through ICCS lenses

ICCS at International and Regional meetings

Since the adoption of the ICCS in the first half of 2015, UNODC has presented the ICCS and progress on ICCS implementation at various international and regional meetings to facilitate the dissemination of the ICCS and the commitment to full national implementation.