9 November 1981

49th plenary meeting

Crime prevention and criminal justice and development

The General Assembly, Concerned at the escalation of crime and violence in many parts of the world, Conscious of the forms and dimensions crime has assumed in the context of socio-economic development, and the increasing difficulties encountered,

Stressing the vital contribution that the United Nations Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders make to improving the quality of life,

Recalling its resolution 35/171 of 15 December 1980, in which it endorsed the Caracas Declaration and recommendations relating to the new perspectives for international co-operation in crime prevention in the context of development,

Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, which is one of the principal guarantees for the creation of better conditions so that all peoples may attain a decent life,

Mindful that the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, contained in the annex of General Assembly resolution 35/56 of 5 December 1980, declares that the ultimate aim of development is the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population on the basis of its full participation in the process of development and the fair distribution of the benefits therefrom,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on crime prevention and criminal justice and development;

2. Reaffirms that crime prevention and criminal justice should be considered in the context of economic development, political, social and cultural systems and social values and changes, as well as in the context of the New International Economic Order;

3. Invites Member States to intensify efforts to make their criminal justice systems more responsive to changing socio-economic conditions, also through the appropriate development of indigenous forms of social control;

4. Urges the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development of the Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme to increase their level of support to programmes of technical assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and to encourage technical co-operation among developing countries;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures for the fullest implementation of the Caracas Declaration and for the appropriate preparation of the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in close co-operation with all the relevant United Nations bodies, in particular with the regional commissions and the United Nations training and research institutes in crime prevention;

6. Calls upon the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, entrusted with the preparation of the United Nations Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, to give particular attention, in the formulation of the agenda of the Seventh United Nations Congress, to current and emerging trends in crime prevention and criminal justice, with a view to defining new guiding principles for the future course of crime prevention and criminal justice in the context of development needs and the goals of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade and a New International Economic Order, taking into account the political, economic, social and cultural circumstances and traditions of each country and the need for crime prevention and criminal justice systems to be consonant with the principles of social justice;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, in reporting to the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1982 on the preparatory work for the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, also to take into account the relevant recommendations of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control at its seventh session, without prejudice to the existing reporting procedures.