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Availability: Sentencing data

The following indicator is under consideration for this pilot edition of the Barometer: To what extent is sentencing information available as open data?

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You are looking at a draft indicator to be included in the expert survey of the Global Data Barometer. Between now and May 10th we are inviting your feedback on this indicator and the elements it contains. You can provide your feedback by (a) completing the feedback form below; or (b) adding in-line annotations.

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You can share your feedback on the Availability: Sentencing data indicator here, or make use of Hypothes.is annotations

Show/hide supporting questions

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online
      Supporting questions: Are there other offline ways to access this data in the country? (e.g. attending an office to inspect it)
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action
      Supporting questions: If government is not providing access to data, how is this data available? Please provide a URL for where this data can be found
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions
      Supporting questions: Please provide a URL for where this data can be found

Elements

Part 1: Data structure and openness.

  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    When was the most recent update to this dataset?

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If No: If there are explicit restrictions placed on re-use of the dataset, briefly describe those here.

    If Partially or Yes: If the data is provided with an explicit open license, please provide the name of the license, or a link to it here.

  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please briefly describe the language coverage available.

  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a URL where this machine-readable data can be found. (Additional URLs can be included in the justification and supporting evidence)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a comma separated list of the formats available? (E.g. csv, json)

    If Partially: What prevents you from assessing this data as fully machine-readable?

  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes) Answer no if it's only possible to access individual records; Answer partially if it's possible to export extracts of the data; Answer yes if there are bulk downloads or APIs providing access to the whole dataset without financial, technical or legal barriers.

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please provide a URL where bulk download access is available or described.

    If Partially or Yes: If bulk access is provided through an API, please provide a link to where the API is described.

Part 2: Data fields assessment.

  • Data includes information differentiated by identity as an individual offender. (No, Partially, Yes) This question examines whether sentencing data about individuals can be assessed separately from sentencing data about organizational entities.

  • Data includes information differentiated by identity as an organizational offender. (No, Partially, Yes) This question examines whether sentencing data about organizational entities can be assessed separately from sentencing data about individuals.

  • Data includes information about whether individuals receiving sentences were juvenile or not. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about individuals' marginalized identities. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about individuals' sex or gender. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please briefly describe what data includes sex or gender information.

  • Data includes information about charges. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about sentences received. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about dismissals and acquittals. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about appeals and their results. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about resentencing. (No, Partially, Yes)

  • Data includes information about death penalty sentences. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If No: Is this because capital punishment isn't lawful in the country you're assessing?

Part 3: Barriers to data availability of quality.

  • This information is missing required data. (There is no evidence of data gaps., There is evidence that a portion of mandated data is missing., There is evidence of widespread omissions in mandated data.) In cases where a separate indicator has asked you to determine data requirements of a relevant governing framework, assess against that. In cases where there is no such related governance indicator, assess based on the parameters laid out in the publication of the information, your local knowledge, and any broader research you may have done for this theme.

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If There is evidence that a portion of mandated data is missing. or There is evidence of widespread omissions in mandated data.: Please briefly explain.

  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially or Yes: Please briefly describe how COVID-19 affected the availability of this data.

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
      Supporting questions: Which locality does this data cover?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for all, or most, localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Definitions and Identification

Increasingly, judicial systems are seeking to make sentencing data publicly available while respecting privacy concerns. Fundamentally, sentencing data can help assure that sentences are consistent and proportionate.

Sentencing data should include general details about the offender, such as whether the offender is an individual or organization, adult or juvenile, as well as information about an offender's gender and marginalized status. Data should include details of charges and sentences, as well as dismissals and acquittals. To understand how sentences may change, data should also include information about appeals, their results, and any other kinds of resentencing.

Among other functions, it should be possible for different actors to use sentencing data in various ways:

  • to establish baselines that help identify and rectify excessive sentences;
  • to understand and expand effective alternatives to incarceration;
  • to identify sentencing disparities related to marginalized status;
  • to design gender-responsive interventions or support;
  • to identify sentencing patterns related to different types or classes of charge;
  • to meaningfully guide sentencing reform and retroactive sentence changes.

Starting points

  • Search:

    • The website of your country's sentencing commission or sentencing review system.
    • The website of the ministry of justice or office of justice statistics.

  • Consult:

    • Government officials on sentencing commissions.
    • Officers of legal associations that advocate for sentencing reform.
    • Officers of civil society or community organizations that advocate for criminal justice reform, prisoners' rights, or prison abolition.
    • Journalists who report on the criminal justice system, trials, sentencing reform, juvenile incarceration, prosecutorial misconduct, probation systems, death penalty.

What to look for?

To complete the assessment for this question you will need to access and explore the available data. This may involve running queries on datasets to check the variety of fields included.

Look for evidence that can answer the following questions:

  • What general information is available about the entity sentenced? For example, is the entity an individual or an organization? Is the entity juvenile? Is the data differentiated by gender and status in the country's marginalized communities?
  • Does the data include information about charges brought?
  • What specific information is available about trial or case results? For example, is there information about sentence lengths, dismissals and acquittals, and death penalty cases?
  • What information is available about changes after sentencing? For example, is there information about appeals and their results, or about resentencing?
  • Is there evidence of missing data, assessed first against the related governance framework, if that exists, or in the context of the datasets in front of you?
  • Is there evidence that the availability of this data was affected by COVID-19?

National and sub-national considerations

In some countries, data about sentencing may be generated and published at the sub-national level, ****carried out by individual states, regions, cities, or jurisdictions.

Focus on national government first, and then assess whether:

  • National datasets also include data from sub-national or local government units;
  • Equivalent data exists for a selection of sub-national or local government units, but is not nationally aggregated;

To assess countries where sentencing data is organized sub-nationally, researchers should select the strongest example of sub-national practice, and then indicate whether this is an outlier, or an example of widespread practice.

Well-functioning justice systems are critical to the public good. SDG 16 calls upon governments to "promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development; provide access to justice for all; and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels." One element of meaningfully achieving these aims is ensuring that sentencing practices are proportionate and consistent.

Article 10(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that "The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation. Juvenile offenders shall be segregated from adults and be accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status." However, in many jurisdictions around the world, excessive sentences, often tied to goals of deterrence or retribution, make social rehabilitation virtually impossible. Additionally, sentencing can be inequitable, for example, showing racial disparities, in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Sentencing data can be a key tool for surfacing and tracking sentencing disparities, and supporting consistent, proportionate sentences that prioritize social rehabilitation.