Data Sources: Prosecution and Courts

Records on prosecution and courts are a source of information on the process starting from the identification of a suspected offender by law-enforcement authorities to the decision of a judge at a criminal court. These sources also provide data on the staffs of prosecuting and court authorities. Notwithstanding the particular situations in specific countries, input data of prosecution and courts statistics refers to all cases of criminal offenses that are passed to the prosecuting authority for disposal; process data refers to persons prosecuted; and output data refers to convicted offenders. Data sources on prosecution and courts are publicly available, mainly at the country and international levels.

Prosecution data sources address information regarding the decision whether or not to initiate or confirm a formal criminal charge against ...