The question of reliability
The widespread public perception is that the official statistics on crime are not reliable. There are always cases of underreporting by the police besides the fact that many cases are not reported by the victims of crimes. On the other hand, in recent times, some rights organisations such as Adhikar reports crimes, in particular those relating to human rights violations. The serious cases of murder, rape, throwing acid etc. find prominence. If the two sets of figures are examined, the figures will not match. Occasionally, mainly in the metropolis, the senior police officers brief newsmen with claims of downward trend in serious crimes like murder. There are no means of testing the authenticity of such claims.

Statistics about criminals
Statistics about criminals are very hard to come by. These remain within the police records. The number of cases of convictions and acquittals are also maintained at the police station. There is no central records of such statistics. In pre-1971 days, the High Court used to publish a report on the results of criminal trial. This was called "Report on the Administration of Criminal Justice in the Province of East Bengal/East Pakistan".

The report was a public document and available to any citizen at

a nominal price. The report would give details of the number of appellants, appeals rejected, sentence or order confirmed, sentence altered, sentence reversed or otherwise disposed of. It would also contain data on different types of punishments awarded by different courts of law. All such statistics would also be grouped and shown by administrative divisions.

Of particular relevance were statistics relating to the number of witnesses who turned up, discharged without examination or otherwise detained. It would further show the total amount paid to the witnesses. The High Court would also take notice of unusual delays in the disposal of cases including delays in examining witnesses. This was a yearly monitoring device intended to keep track of performance of criminal courts. It conduced to transparency of criminal justice system besides helping interested researchers with the needed data.

The annual administration report of the police
There used to be published annual administration report of the police. This report also provided adequate information on the number of crimes, trial and punishment at the district level. In particular, it provided data on the number of warrants of arrest issued, number executed and the number pending for execution, the number of absconding criminals.

The report included data on different categories of crimes, the number of the accused punished, the number acquitted or discharged. The data would also provide information on the number of the accused who surrendered to the court.

Do the aforesaid documents exist?
A pertinent question is, are the aforesaid documents available now. It is difficult to say yes or no. This is because data may be available but not accessible to the citizens in the form that such documents were earlier available. It is felt that the old system needs to be revived with such adjustments as may be needed. It is not known if some of on-going projects funded by the donors have paid attention to such vital issues or followed the traditional lines of augmenting training system, providing equipment and construction of building etc. These are definitely important where needed. But attention to these aspects need not blind one to the vital aspect of keeping the citizens informed of the state of crime and punishment.

The availability of documented information on these issues, besides fulfilling the objective of citizens' right to know, may also serve other useful purposes. First, the Members of Parliament and civil society organisations (CSOs) will be better able to make their own assessment and where appropriate raise issues.

Second, it will help the researchers to conduct research on specified areas and open up opportunities for constructive debate on criminal justice system. Third, the government in case of the police, will be equipped with necessary information to assess performance of criminal administration. Fourth, it will help the higher judiciary to more effectively monitor and take corrective actions for meeting the ends of justice as well as evaluate performance of judicial officers.

Examples from India
In India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has a separate office for providing published information on crimes. It is called the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The Bureau collects statistics from all the states in India to compile and publish its report called Crime in India every year. The report is open for sale. From this report, it is possible to get a first hand impression of rise and fall in crimes. Providing an analytical view of Crime in India

1997, RK Raghavan, Director of Central Bureau of Investigation comments: "An observer who plays up the numbers, and a misguided policeman who suppresses crime, both distort the perspective of a dispassionate analysis" (The Hindu, 15, July 1999).

It is said that the Crime in India is a very useful document that contains information on the police. Further, the NCRB has a number of ambitious projects in hand. One such project is to bring out publication on prison statistics. The publication of prison statistics will meet the long-felt need of researchers and others having an interest in the subject.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has another office, which is called the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD). Its main functions include studies on problems relating to police and prison reforms, application of science and technology to police work. The BPRD has, besides the research division, a development division, a training division and a forensic science division.

There is another institution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is called National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science (NIFCS). Established in 1972 it has laboratory and research facilities recognised by many universities for research in criminology and has trained senior police officers from home and abroad.

The debate on police and prison reforms
During the past few years, there has been an on-going debate on police and prison reforms. Studies have been conducted on criminal justice system. It is understood that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will be providing technical assistance support for the police. A cabinet committee is now working on prison reforms. Newspaper reports have shown the visit to Dhaka Central Jail where the Chief Justice was present. Evidently, this indicates concern for prison reforms. It is said that a total of 72,122 prisoners including 511 condemned to death are kept crammed in country's 66 jails. The capacity is limited to only 25,712 prisoners. This means that the existing jails are keeping prisoners about three-times more than their capacity. Two-thirds of the prisoners are said to be under-trial prisoners (UTPs) in Dhaka Central Jail alone. The Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister has made statements claiming that steps have been taken to improve living conditions in jails.

All such initiatives are, however, symptomatic of the same old traditional approach to reforms that recognises government and the donors as repositories of all wisdom. UNDP, it is understood, is in the process of hiring consultants for its project relating to justice project (The Daily Star, June 16, 2004). There is already a judicial capacity-building project funded by the World Bank. How such efforts will ultimately fulfil the objective of citizens' right to know the state of administration of criminal justice remains unclear. There is need to come out of a cloistered approach to identify new institutional arrangements in combination with the old ones that will conduce to transparency in the administration of criminal justice.

A M M Shawkat Ali, PhD is ex-Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture.