Promoting and Encouraging the Implementation of Alternatives to Imprisonment as Part of Comprehensive Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Policies

Encourages Member States, in implementing holistic and comprehensive crime prevention and criminal justice policies, to promote, as appropriate, alternatives to imprisonment, from the pretrial stage to the post-sentencing stage, taking into account the background, gender, age and other specific circumstances of offenders, including their vulnerability, and the objective of their rehabilitation and reintegration into society;

Also encourages Member States to develop or strengthen, as appropriate, legislative or other measures to promote and encourage the implementation of non-custodial measures and sanctions as alternatives to imprisonment, including through restorative justice and the provision of treatment and rehabilitative programmes for offenders in the community, and further encourages Member States to implement development-oriented interventions for offenders and their local communities that are aimed at addressing the underlying problems leading to offenders’ contact with the criminal justice system and facilitating their reintegration into society;

Further encourages Member States, in promoting alternatives to imprisonment as part of comprehensive crime prevention and criminal justice policies, to continue to take into consideration the importance of the proportionality of sanctions;

Encourages Member States to build capacity and provide adequate resources for the effective implementation of alternatives to imprisonment, taking into account the potential role of the community, civil society and the private sector, where appropriate, in the provision of legal aid and the treatment, social rehabilitation, reintegration and, as necessary, aftercare of offenders;

Also encourages Member States to build or enhance the capacity of criminal justice officials and practitioners, including through specialized training to promote better understanding and recognition of specific needs and conditions of offenders, while considering the risks to victims and society;

Further encourages Member States, in cooperation with academia and civil society, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, to promote the monitoring and evaluation of the use of alternatives to imprisonment in order to assess their effectiveness in the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders;

Calls upon Member States and relevant international and regional organizations to enhance cooperation and coordination at all levels, including with relevant non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders, where appropriate, in order to better understand, identify, develop and implement effective policies on alternatives to imprisonment, in particular through the sharing of information, knowledge and best practices, including with regard to challenges to the implementation of such policies;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, together with the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, to continue its efforts to promote the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical data on alternatives to imprisonment and research on relevant policies that relate to the social reintegration of offenders and reduce recidivism;

Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for the purposes described above, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.