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UN Crime Congress and Crime Commission

Quakers have participated in UN Congresses on Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention since 1985. Several studies undertaken for the Quaker Council for European Affairs in the 1980s and 1990s have fed into and influenced UN criminal justice codes and guidelines. Areas of particular interest for Quakers internationally are mediation, community participation in justice, Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops in prisons and the community, restorative justice, women prisoners, firearms control, life imprisonment and the death penalty.

Quaker delegations to the UN Congresses have been active participants, initiating ancillary meetings and workshops. In recent years Quakers have been particularly active in supporting and promoting work on restorative justice and women in prison/children of prisoners.

In 1990 the Congress established the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be the policy making body, giving future Congresses an advisory role. The Commission meets annually in Vienna, and FWCC attends regularly. FWCC is also a member of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (ISPAC) to the UN Criminal Justice Programme, and representatives attend its annual meetings and conferences in Italy.

Further Resources on Quakers and criminal justice.