Monitoring EU crime policies using the international classification of crime for statistical purposes (ICCS) : 2018 edition

Eurostat countries are dealing with diff erent legal concepts and traditions, diff erent criminal justice systems and laws as well as diff erent defi nitions, methodologies, and instruments to collect crime data. All these diff erences limit the comparability of crime statistics across Europe. Implementing a common classifi cation of off ences such as the International Classifi cation of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) will strengthen the comparability and consistency of crime and criminal justice data and improve analytical capabilities at national, European, and international levels. Implementation steps already undertaken by Eurostat include using ICCS categories in the joint UNODC/Eurostat data collection and publishing data on criminal off ences according to ICCS categories. The next goal is for Eurostat countries to implement the ICCS in the production of crime statistics on national level. This publication is the second in a series of Eurostat booklets to support the implementation of the ICCS, with the fi rst booklet providing general remarks, a roadmap for the implementation as well as translations of ICCS category titles in all offi cial EU languages. The overall purpose of this second booklet is to describe how the specifi c criminal off ences defi ned in the legislation passed at EU level should be mapped to the ICCS. For these off ences, a common approach towards the alignment with the ICCS needs to be developed, where possible, to ensure that all EU Member States treat these off ences consistently when applying the ICCS at national level. The relevant off ences make up the chapters of this booklet. Each chapter provides explanations on how to align off ences defi ned at EU level with ICCS categories by suggesting possible mapping scenarios, providing correspondence tables or pointing out inconsistencies between ICCS defi nitions and defi nitions in EU legislation. For some off ences, the classifi cation may require supplementary guidance to map said off ences to the matching ICCS category.