ABOUT US


ISPAC - International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme

Establishment

The constituent assembly of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (ISPAC), attended by some seventy representatives of non-government organizations, academic institutions and associations was convened in Milan, Italy, from 21 to 23 September 1991. Mr. Adolfo Beria di Argentine, Honorary Attorney-General, Supreme Court of Italy; Secretary-General, International Society of Social Defence and Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale, Milan, Italy was the founder and first Chair of ISPAC. The Secretariat of ISPAC is located in Milan, Italy in the offices of the Fondazione Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale - www.cnpds.it.

Organization

The General Assembly of the United Nations, in its resolution 45/107 (annex, para.28), called for broader involvement of, and assistance by, non-government organizations in order to fully implement the mandates emerging from the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme and to provide additional technical and scientific expertise and resources for international cooperation in this field. The Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in its resolution on Guiding Principles for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in the Context of Development and a New Economic Order (para.46), also called for more intensive efforts to secure support and cooperation from scientific and professional organizations and institutions with an established reputation in the field, so as to make greater use of those resources at the subregional, regional, interregional and international levels, and proposed establishing an international council of scholarly, scientific, research and professional organizations and academic institutions to strengthen international cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice by furthering the exchange of information and providing technical and scientific assistance to the United Nations and the world community which it serves.

ISPAC is a component of the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme. The Programme, as it now exists was created in 1991 by General Resolution 46/152. The new political will which found an expression in that Resolution is being translated into action by:
  • creating the essential mechanisms for practical collaboration against common problems;
  • providing a framework for inter-State cooperation and coordination to respond to the serious new forms and transnational aspects and dimensions of crime;
  • establishing information exchanges concerning the implementation and effectiveness of the UN norms and standards in crime prevention and criminal justice;
  • providing means of assistance, particularly to developing countries, for more effective crime prevention and more humane justice;
The United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network of Institutes consists of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division and a number of interregional and regional institutes around the world, as well as specialized centres. It has been developed to assist the international community in strengthening international cooperation in the crucial areas of crime prevention and criminal justice. The Division serves as the substantive Secretariat of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, ECOSOC and the General Assembly and the Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders. It is responsible for the overall coordination of the Network of Institutes activities. Information on the Network of Institutes can be found in PNI Institutes.

Executive Board of ISPAC

Ispac By-Laws