Legal Issues

It is very hard to make a comprehensive comparison of the trends of crime and subsequent appropriation of justice particularly between two or more nations. This is occasioned by the fact that there is no universal legal system and each nation applies different levels of severity against offenders. Moreover, the data used to make these comparisons is collected from different bodies which use varying data collection techniques making standardization difficult to achieve. The authors of this report have taken note of this fact and proceeded to solve the problem by incorporating only the crimes and punishments that are closely similar in nature.

Due to comparability problems, the authors of the report did not collect data on all types of crime or on all sentences. Instead, the authors used custody and conviction data because these data was relatively easier to collect than the former. This approach greatly assisted in avoiding the technicality of establishing the manner in which the nations in question treated similar crimes so as to acquire parallels.

There was also a problem of long time lapses between reports which made it difficult to pinpoint when the differences between the reports actually occurred. Short intervals between reports are necessary to ensure that the report is able to reflect a trend rather than report on mere data. However, since the authors of the report did not carry out independent data collection, they had to rely on data from data collection bodies in the different nations. This is a problem that the authors of the report could not address because it was brought about by lack of information regarding the periods between the lapses.

All in all, the report prepared by the authors is quite comprehensive and can be adopted by the relevant policy makers in formulating policies targeted at controlling crime and ensuring swift administration of justice.