Tätigkeitsbericht 2010 - Kriminologische Zentralstelle eV

Summary
Moreover, the KrimZ also works on criminological findings, focusing on the
analysis of statistical data relevant to criminology and on secondary analysis
of research results. Last but not least, the Centre also conducts its own empirical
research projects, which are mostly financed from its own budget, but also
through third-party funding. These projects are mainly nationwide studies in
the area of criminal justice. It is taken for granted that rigorous principles of
science and documentation are valid for the KrimZ too. Nevertheless, the
KrimZ sees it as its special duty to bring own working results in public policy
considerations.
In 2009 the Federal Agency for the Prevention of Torture was established as a
national independent mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Germany (see section 8). The
Agency will undertake regular visits to places where people are deprived of
their liberty, identify problems and make recommendations to the relevant authorities.
Furthermore, it will report annually to the German parliament and
government. In 2010 it was extended by a commission responsible for the
monitoring of prisons, police cells, psychiatric hospitals as well as a range of
similar institutions under the jurisdiction of the federal states. The Agency’s
administration is an annex to the KrimZ, and it has its own website featuring
some information in English (http://www.antifolterstelle.de/).
4. Activities in 2010 and beyond
Empirical research of the institute focused on several issues, one of them being
sexual offences, which have been the focus of discourses both in the political
sphere and in the media in Germany for several years. In the project on
„Dangerous Sex Offenders: Careers and Penal Reactions“ (see section 5.2.1)
an extensive survey of case records was made, and the final report will be
published early in 2011. Another project evaluating social therapy treatment
in correctional institutions (section 5.3.3), which is a version of the therapeutic
community approach originating in Denmark, is also concerned with the
group of sex offenders. Recent judgments of the European Court of Human
Rights and their consequences for the traditional system of preventive detention
(Sicherungsverwahrung) in Germany triggered new empirical research on
the right not to have a heavier penalty imposed than the one applicable at the
time of an offence and the practise of preventive detention for an indefinite
period of time (section 5.2.2).
The scope of the KrimZ‘s research was extended by research on „Cooperation
between Child Care and Criminal Justice Agencies in Cases of Sex Offences
against Children“, a project co-funded by the European Commission. The
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