Inter-American Security Observatory

International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS)

The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) is a classification of criminal offences based on internationally agreed concepts, definitions and principles in order to enhance the consistency and international comparability of crime statistics, and improve analytical capabilities at both the national and international levels.
It was produced on the basis of the plan to finalize by 2015 an international classification of crime for statistical purposes, as approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in its decision 44/110 and by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in its resolution 2013/37.
Standardized concepts and definitions allow for the systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of data, and also respond to the demand for in-depth research and analysis of transnational crime. At the national level, the ICCS can be used as a model to provide structure and organize statistical data that are often produced according to legal rather than analytical categories. Moreover, the ICCS can harmonize data across domestic criminal justice institutions (police, prosecutions, courts, prisons) and across different data sources (administrative records and statistical surveys).
The UNSC, at its 46th session in March 2015, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) 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 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the custodian of the ICCS, and have confirmed the implementation plan for the classification at national, regional and international levels.

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