This presentation is focussed on the importance of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) for international comparisons in a non-statistical agency, New Zealand Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The presentation will discuss efforts by the MoJ to undertake international comparisons of crime and victimisation data collected through its New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS). The NZCVS is the only regular source of victimisation data including events reported to police and unreported crime. This data is different from administrative data which includes only reported crime. The key objectives of SDG 16 are reflected in its title; “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. Progress towards this commendable goal requires significant coordinated effort from multiple agencies and organisations around the globe. Monitoring and measuring progress are only possible through clear and transparent indicators supported by relevant definitions and metadata. MoJ collects and analyses a vast array of data related to crime, victimisation, and performance of the justice system. Analysis of collected data inevitably includes international comparisons which help detect areas of success, estimate bottlenecks, prioritise interventions and investments. International comparisons are also useful for estimating outcomes and assessing likely impacts of policies and strategies. Comparing international crime and victimisation data is notoriously difficult due to issues such as differences in national legislation, terminology and definitions, data collection methods, analytical methodology and interpretation of the results. All the above factors increase risk of misinterpretation and misuse of international comparison results albeit it does not reduce the demand for them. This presentation explores how some of these risks are mitigated by using SDG 16 indicators with more clearly defined scope, definitions, and metadata requirements.
