UNICRI :: United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute

Juvenile Justice

Today, children and young people are exposed to exploitation, abuse and delinquency at an increasing rate. The reasons behind victimization and juvenile delinquency are many and complex. Growing levels of poverty and the consequences of wars, including social disruption, dysfunctional families and exposure to crime, are risk factors for delinquency. Insecurity due to unstable social environments increases vulnerability, and young people with poorly developed social skills are less able to protect themselves against the negative influences of a peer group. It is estimated that the overwhelming majority of those who participate in violence against young people in developed countries are about the same age and sex as their victims.

Millions of children and young people around the world do not benefit from the protection afforded by juvenile justice standards or preventive measures. Consequences of this lack of protection include illegal detention, minors incarcerated with adult detainees and a lack of capacity within the judicial and social systems to provide rapid intervention or trial for juvenile offenders. The best interest of the child is not established expressly in the Constitution of many countries nor is it directly expressed in ordinary legislation. Many countries do not have an organized system for gathering data on children and youth at risk or in conflict with the law. Programmes are needed to strengthen young people and minors' protection and development to help prevent and protect vulnerable juveniles.

Countries with economies in transition have witnessed a dramatic rise in delinquency rates. Most children and young people in conflict with the law have committed minor crimes or such minor offences as vagrancy, truancy, begging or alcohol use.

UNICRI to strengthen children and young people's rights

Since its establishment more than 40 years ago, UNICRI has contributed to the establishment of a reliable base of knowledge and information on social problems involving juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. As for its mandate, the Institute identifies appropriate strategies, policies and instruments for the prevention and control of this growing problem as well as to contribute to socioeconomic development and to promote the protection of all human rights.

UNICRI's aim for the programmes in the field of youth and minors' protection is to promote the rights of minors at risk or in conflict with the law, enhance the capacities of relevant institutions and grass-root organisations, and strengthen the juvenile justice systems.

The Institute's strategy is founded on the belief that the protection of the rights of juveniles, especially of those who are in conflict with the law, is a key element for development, reconciliation and reconstruction processes in the countries in which the Institute operates. These objectives are carried out in a holistic manner. The methods used are applied research, legal and technical assistance, advanced training, social activities and awareness campaigns. UNICRI's programmes combine institutional capacity-building and social activities. The Institute works in strict cooperation with local, national and international organizations, both governmental and non-governmental with the aim of supporting countries making the best use of international expertise and best practices, to set up appropriate structures and institutions The programmes are carried out worldwide with a special focus on countries in transition.

The Institute recently became a Member of the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice (formerly known as the Inter-Agency Coordination Panel on Juvenile Justice), created by ECOSOC resolution 1997/30 that aims at coordinating international technical advice and assistance in juvenile justice provided by UN agencies and non-governmental organisations under the guidance of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

At UNICRI, we believe our future lies with the youth, and that it depends on the assistance of minors and young people in achieving their rights. We are fully committed to support governments in achieving this crucial goal.

International Criminal Law

Within the framework of this programme, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) performs various kinds of activities both in cooperation with international criminal tribunals and domestic judicial and training institutions. These activities can be subsumed in the following main areas:

Supporting the mission and work of international and internationalized criminal tribunals and courts
Legacy projects and technical assistance to Member States

Supporting the mission and work of international and internationalized criminal tribunals and courts

In cooperation with international criminal tribunals, UNICRI has launched various initiatives aimed at gathering and transferring knowledge acquired by these international institutions to national judiciaries and practicing lawyers and concerned professionals to support the work of international tribunals set up for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

In this context UNICRI boasts of organizing some of the world’s best training programs focusing specially on the development of international criminal law by international courts. Examples include

The Master of Law (LL.M.) in International Crime and Justice, provided in association with the University of Turin, which caters solely to younger professionals of law and related disciplines, and trains them to specialize in international criminal justice. The success of the Master Program can be marked from the fact that such professionals, upon the completion of their training have often been invited to intern or work by international courts and tribunals such as the ICC, ICTY, ICTR, SCSL, STL, ECCC and various UN agencies and peacekeeping missions
The International Criminal Law Defence Seminar, a unique training program with an innovative methodology explaining the practice and procedures of international tribunals in a 4 day period to practicing attorneys, judicial personnel, law enforcement and governmental officers working in the area of international justice.

Legacy projects and technical assistance to Member States

The UNICRI approach that has been followed with regard to preserving the legacies of International Tribunals’ comprises of:

Applied research and cooperation with the Tribunal to identify which type of knowledge and practices are worth to be transferred
Thorough analysis of the need of the countries involved by the Tribunal’s work
Elaboration and implementation of capacity building projects

UNICRI, on the basis of its previous experience, has undertaken a wide range of activities aimed at strengthening the capacities of domestic jurisdictions. These include:

Undertaking a thorough needs assessment of the judiciary and identification of gaps in its capacity to deal with statutory war crimes cases: Most recently, UNICRI has undertaken a careful needs assessment of the jurisdictions of the former Yugoslavia paying particular attention to needs for training and educational activities in the field of International Humanitarian Law, structural problems within the court systems and compliance of court procedures with international standards. The outcome of this endeavor was the 2009 ICTY-ODIHR-UNICRI Final Report “Supporting the transition process”, which provides an in depth analysis of the past capacity building activities in the region and recommendations on how to implement future capacity building programmes.
Elaborating training programmes and training curricula for legal practitioners on war crimes related issues: In 2008, UNICRI implemented a project aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Bosnian judicial system to deal with war crimes prosecution. Within this framework, a series of trainings for defence counsel were organized in cooperation with the Criminal Defence Section of the Registry of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on several issues, such as plea bargaining and use of evidence in war crimes cases. The choice of topics, lecturers and the preparation of training material was undertaken in close coordination with the local counterparts, to ensure that the trainings met the needs of the target groups.
Facilitating the transfer of knowledge and expertise to national judiciaries and building national capacities: Together with the ICTY and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE-ODIHR), UNICRI has implemented a joint project entitled “War Crimes Justice Project” (WCJP) which has successfully transferred knowledge on war crime cases from ICTY to the region. As a result of various initiatives to build the capacity of national jurisdiction in handling war crimes cases in 2011, over 800 justice professionals benefited from the training provided. Within the project framework, UNICRI also prepared, in cooperation with the Association of Defense Counsel practicing before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY), a “Manual on International Criminal Defence. ADC-ICTY Developed Practices”, an electronic and knowledge management tool in the nature of a bilingual training and e-learning portal, to facilitate the exchange of information and experience between practitioners from judicial institutions of the countries of the former Yugoslavia was made available. The training and e-learning portal, prepared in partnership with national institutions, contains over 700 relevant legislative tools in the field of war crime prosecutions, international conventions and treaties, relevant national legislation, bilateral agreements on criminal matters. The e-learning portal is being used by national judicial training academics in the former Yugoslavia to educate judges and prosecutors in the field of international criminal and humanitarian law.
Elaboration of electronic tools and knowledge management systems aimed at supporting the work and education of legal practitioners (such as databases on legislation, databases on past training activities and material, e-learning course on International Criminal and Humanitarian Law etc.): Within the ICTY-ODIHR-UNICRI “War Crimes Justice Project”: the Institute has created a Training and e-learning Portal for the region of the former Yugoslavia. The Portal is an online tool for legal practitioners and judicial training institutions containing:
1. A Database on Training Activities, containing all the material developed by international and national training providers during the implementation of trainings for legal professionals on war crimes related issues
2. A Legislation Database, which allows the user to browse relevant legislative tools (criminal legislation of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, bilateral agreements on criminal matters, international treaties and conventions)
3. An E-learning course for judges and prosecutors on International Criminal and Humanitarian Law
4. A Manual developed in association with the Association of Defence Counsel practising before the ICTY (ADC-ICTY) titled, ‘The Manual on International Criminal Defence, ADC-ICTY Developed Practices’. The Manual, which is the first of its kind, crystallises the knowledge gained by those practitioners at the ICTY and provides a ‘practical’ perspective necessary to assist lawyers in future war crimes cases wherever they might be practicing

Environmental Crimes

Environmental crimes

UNICRI considers environmental crime, including its links with other forms of crime, a serious and growing danger for development, global stability and international security.

Since 1991, UNICRI has contributed to combating crimes against the environment and related emerging threats through applied research, awareness and capacity-building initiatives. UNICRI has built a strong international network of experts and practitioners from major international organization, law enforcement agencies, NGOs and academic entities active in the field.

Transnational threat of environmental crimes

Environmental crimes encompass a broad list of illicit activities, including illegal trade in wildlife; smuggling of ozone-depleting substances (ODS); illicit trade of hazardous waste; illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; and illegal logging and trade in timber. On one side, environmental crimes are increasingly affecting the quality of air, water and soil, threatening the survival of species and causing uncontrollable disasters. On the other, environmental crimes also impose a security and safety threat to a large number of people and have a significant negative impact on development and the rule of law. Despite these issues, environmental crimes often fail to prompt the appropriate governmental response. Often perceived as ‘victimless’ and incidental crimes, environmental crimes frequently rank low on the law enforcement priority list, and are commonly punished with administrative sanctions, themselves often unclear and low.

The involvement of organized criminal groups acting across borders is one of many factors that have favoured the considerable expansion of environmental crimes in recent years. Led by vast financial gains and facilitated by a low risk of detection and scarce conviction rates, criminal networks and organized criminal groups are becoming increasingly interested in such illicit transnational activities. These phenomena fuel corruption and money-laundering, and undermine the rule of law, ultimately affecting the public twice: first, by putting at risk citizens’ health and safety; and second, by diverting resources that would otherwise be allocated to services other than criminal activities.

The level of organization needed for these crimes indicates a link with other serious offences, including theft, fraud, corruption, drugs and human trafficking, counterfeiting, firearms smuggling, and money laundering, several of which have been substantiated by investigations. Therefore, environmental crimes represent today an emerging form of transnational organized crime requiring more in-depth analysis and better-coordinated responses at national, regional and international levels.

Role of UNICRI in supporting Member States and the international community in preventing and countering environmental crimes

The first research projects conducted by UNICRI addressed the issue of environmental law, and in particular explored the limits and potentials of applying criminal law in crimes related to environment. In June 1998, UNICRI organised in Rome a seminar on international environmental conventions and the administration of criminal law. Since then, the Institute has focused on the involvement of organized criminal groups in environmental crime.

To increase awareness of the threat of environmental crime, UNICRI contributed to the organization of the conference entitled Illicit trafficking in waste: a global emergency (Rome, December 2011), with the participation of the Ministry of the Environment of Italy, parliamentarians, international partners such as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and many stakeholders involved in countering trafficking in and dumping of toxic waste. To enhance understanding of the dynamics of environmental crime, the Institute implemented a research and data collection project focused on the dumping of illegal waste and hazardous materials, including e-waste, and the involvement of organized crime.

In partnership with several research institutes, civil society organizations, and municipalities, UNICRI has launched a process for consultation at the international level on the involvement of organized crime in environmental crime, with a view to identify a set of recommendations for more effective policies and actions at the national, regional and international levels. To that end, the Institute, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has organized an international conference in Italy on 29 and 30 October 2012 (see dedicated section).

UNICRI has implemented several international and regional applied-research projects related to the illegal trade and trafficking goods having an adverse impact on the environment, including e-waste, illicit pesticides and precious metals (see dedicated sections).

Counterfeiting and Organized Crime

UNICRI has a long tradition of research in organized crime, including its relation to counterfeiting. The topic of counterfeiting is an important part of the work of the Institute due to the growing interest of criminal organizations in this area. Counterfeiting presents a very favorable ratio between potential profits and assumed risks compared to other criminal activities such as drug trafficking. It also facilitates money laundering by providing a front into which the criminal organizations can invest the proceeds of their other illicit activities. For these reasons interest in it has grown exponentially amongst organized criminal groups.

Counterfeiting is now ranked amongst the highest income sources for organized criminal activities.

Counterfeiting of Medicines

UNICRI researches and writes on specific counterfeit product categories, focusing on the impact on consumers’ health and safety and on organized crime involvement. Counterfeit medicines are among the counterfeit products with the greatest potential for harming the health of consumers. As for many other criminal activities, also in the case of counterfeit medicines reliable estimates are extremely hard to be obtained. Nonetheless, according to the WHO counterfeit medicines represent approximately 10 per cent of the entire amount of medicines worldwide. Strong evidence suggests that organized crime is increasingly involved in counterfeiting and counterfeit medicines are by no means an exception.

Counterfeiting

UNICRI’s programme on Counterfeiting is based on a long tradition of research in matters of organized crime. Counterfeiting is an important part of the work of the Institute due to the growing interest of criminal organizations in this area.

Counterfeiting presents a very favorable ratio between potential profits and assumed risks compared to other criminal activities such as drug trafficking. It also facilitates money laundering by providing a front into which the criminal organizations can invest the proceeds of their other illicit activities. For these reasons interest in it has grown exponentially amongst organized criminal groups.

Counterfeiting is a complex criminal activity involving economic, social and legal elements. Aware of this complexity and of the urgent need of an adequate response, UNICRI developed a specific program based on a multidisciplinary approach which follows two main pillars of analysis:

The fight against counterfeiting as a response to organized crime;
the danger posed by some specific products to consumers’ health and safety.

Preventing and Countering Transnational Security Threats, Terrorism, and Points of Nexus

Responding to global security and justice threats is critical to UNICRI’s mandate to prevent and combat transnational crime. Strategies to tackle cross-border crime threats and risks, including their growing volume and severity, rely on stability, security, and peace. Erosions in political and economic security and social stability have the potential to act as catalysts for new nexus threats, borne from convergences of conflict, crises, and criminal opportunities.
As part of its strategy to combat transnational security threats and the multiple fronts in which they operate, UNICRI focuses on:

Protection of public institutions, infrastructure, and soft targets
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear safety and security
Crime and security implications of complex global crises
Nexus between transnational organized crime and terrorism

UNICRI works with governments, security, and law enforcement agencies across key niche areas and nexus points to develop and implement innovative programmes and practices that combat transnational security threats.
This includes the nexus between organized crime and terrorism and the confluence of criminal and terrorist actors, tactics, and resources. UNICRI looks at rapidly emerging crisis events with global reach, and the implications for new paradigms of risk and criminal opportunities, such as trafficking and CBRN threats in conflict zones. The increasing use of soft targets and critical infrastructure as sites for attack, including from cyber threats, will also remain a point of significant focus.

UNICRI continues to address and mitigate the prevailing and pressing risks of CBRN safety and security, including cyberbio risks, CBRN financing proliferation, and CBRN disinformation.

As a signatory to the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, and a co-chair of one of its working groups, UNICRI alsos continue its role across the UN system to support Member States to prevent and counter terrorism, through its technical role in translating good practices of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism framework into national policies and action plans.

Enhancing Biosecurity and Biosafety

Research and development in Life Sciences have the potential to bring about transformational change for the betterment of society, including through the convergence of advances in fields like synthetic biology, nanotechnology, information technology, the cognitive sciences, and neurosciences. However, the risks related to the misuse of the technological advances cannot be ignored.

UNICRI has been at the forefront in understanding the potential security risks related to the advances in biology and developing response options.

European Union CBRN Centres of Excellence

Launched in 2010, the EU Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Centres of Excellence (CoE) Initiative is a global Initiative funded and implemented by the European Union through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, as part of its goal to promote peace, stability and conflict prevention.

The Initiative is led by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, in close coordination with the European External Action Service. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre provides technical support to Partner Countries, while UNICRI ensures coherent and effective national, regional and international cooperation. Other relevant international and/or regional organizations and experts also contribute to the Initiative.

The Initiative, which represents the EU’s largest civilian external security programme, involves 63 countries in the following eight regions:

African Atlantic Façade;
North Africa and Sahel;
Central and Eastern Africa;
Middle East;
Gulf Cooperation Council;
Central Asia;
South-East Asia;
South-East and Eastern Europe.

All countries in each region nominate a CBRN CoE National Focal Point who has the responsibility to set up a National CBRN CoE Team composed of national experts from various bodies and ministries operating in the field of CBRN risk mitigation. The National Teams, being the key player of the Initiative, are responsible for assessing the countries' needs and promoting the coordination of CBRN policy among the relevant institutions at national level.

Objectives and activities

The aim of the Initiative is to mitigate risks and strengthen all-hazards security governance in Partner Countries of the EU following a voluntary and demand-driven approach.

EU support is provided to implement a wide range of CBRN risk mitigation projects, including needs and risk assessments, national and regional action plans, capacity building activities, legal framework reviews, tabletop and real time (including cross-border) field exercises, inter-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learnt. So far, 91 projects have been implemented and 27 are ongoing in the eight regions.

Further information

For general information concerning the EU CBRN CoE Initiative or UNICRI, please consult the official websites:

www.cbrn-coe.eu

www.unicri.org

Publications

Prosecutor’s
Guide

Current and Past Activities

The issue of cybercrime has been a focus of UNICRI since 2004, and after years of experience, UNICRI now possesses the skills and know-how to analyze trends concerning cybercrime in its many forms. UNICRI is supported by an extensive, specialized and trusted contact network consisting of private enterprises, international organizations and NGOs, academic institutions, law enforcement bodies, governmental bodies, and other UN agencies.

A sampling of the Emerging Crimes Unit's past activities with respect to cybersecurity and technology misuse can be found below:

Impact of Cybercrime on Business and Economy: UNICRI, with the support of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, has devoted its efforts to raise awareness regarding the cyber threats that can affect the economies of Italy and Europe, with a focus on small medium enterprises (SMEs).

You can download the full proceedings of the Lucca Roundtable (2013)

Full proceedings of the Lucca Roundtable.pdf

Download the publication (2014)

Publication (English Version).pdf

Publication (Italian Version).pdf

Download the highlights (2014)English version or Italian version

Highlights (English Version).pdf

Highlights (Italian Version).pdf

Download the presentation (2014)

Presentation.pdf

Download the Guidelines for IT Security in Small and Medium Enterprises (2015) here

Combating Cybercrime- Tools and Capacity Building for. Emerging Economies: UNICRI contributed to the World Bank project “Combatting Cybercrime: Tools and Capacity Building for Emerging Economies”, aimed at building capacity among policy-makers, legislators, public prosecutors and investigators, and civil society in developing countries in the policy, legal and criminal justice aspects of the enabling environment to combat cybercrime. (Electronic version will be available soon).

SECURED – SECURity at the network Edge, funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7): the SECURED project proposes an innovative architecture to achieve protection from Internet threats by offloading execution of security applications into a programmable device at the edge of the network such as a home gateway or an enterprise router.

COURAGE – Cybercrime and cyberterrOrism (E)Uropean Research AGEnda, funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7): the COuRAGE consortium will deliver a measured, comprehensive, relevant research agenda for Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism (CC/CT) guided by the knowledge and experience of the highly experienced and exceptionally qualified consortium (17 partners, 12 countries) and Advisory Board members (14 organisations including EUROPOL, JRC and ERA).

Information Sharing and Public-Private Partnerships: Perspectives and Proposals: Sustainable cybersecurity strategies require joint flexible responses to threats and thorough, validated, judicial practices. Current debates tend to juxtapose immediate responses to cyberattacks and legislative efforts to combat overall cybercrime as an either/or dichotomy. Through this Info-Sharing project, UNICRI, is looking into national and international established channels of communication to highlight the complementary nature of legislation and security. The project will examine in particular detail the ways in which policy regulation and immediate responses to threats can interact in the sectors of banking, transport and critical infrastructure. This project has been realized with the support of GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC), in collaboration with European Electronic Crime Task Force (EECTF).

The aim of the project is to map the current landscape of cybersecurity information sharing- and the issues thereof- and to highlight the complimentary nature of legislation and security. The project will focus on the needs and demands of the banking, transport and critical infrastructure industries.

You can download the working paper here

Child Online Protection Initiative: Protecting children online is a global challenge, which requires a global approach. While many efforts to improve child online protection are already under way, their reach has been more national than global. UNICRI has collaborated with ITU Child Online Protection initiative to create an international collaborative network and promote online safety of children around the world.

Hackers Profiling Project:the Hacker’s Profiling Project (HPP) started back in 2004. The HPP aimed to improve the response to ICT crime and the transnational organised crime groups that may be involved in it by outlining the criminal profiles of the different types of hackers, with particular emphasis on their possible involvement in transnational organised crime activities and cyber-terrorism. Through a better understanding of hackers, HPP facilitated the prevention and countering of ICT crime and improved the operational methods that may lead to the identification of cybercriminals. The first output of the project was the publication of the book “Profiling Hackers. The Science of Criminal Profiling as Applied to the World of Hacking”, Taylor & Francis, which came out on 12 December 2008 (1st Italian edition was published by Apogeo in February 2007). While many years have passed since its inception, UNICRI continues to collect relevant resources and materials on the topic.

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