THE ORIGINS OF THE SOCIETY

In July 1987, over 200 experts from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, other Commonwealth Countries, the United States, Europe, and Israel gathered at the Inns of Court in London to discuss the reform of criminal law and the criminal justice system.

Over the course of the London conference, the participants analyzed the sources and the possible outcomes of movements for criminal law reform which had developed in their own countries.  They examined the present need for reform; the social context for reform; the general principles which should form its basis; and how reforms should be accomplished.  Delegates also looked at possible specific reforms in a number of areas. 

At the conclusion of the London conference, the participants called for the establishment of an international body to bring together those actively working for the improvement of the criminal law and the administration of criminal justice.  A number of the participants took up that challenge and founded the Society in January 1988.

THE SOCIETY'S PURPOSE

In addition to encouraging members to develop their individual interests and, in turn, providing a network to enable others to support their interests, the Society encourages joint research and policy development among individuals and government bodies from different jurisdictions.  As will be seen below, since its inception, the Society has demonstrated its dedication to the need to aid in the exploration of trans-national strategies to improve criminal law policy and legislation.

MEMBERSHIP

Persons are invited to be members of the Society by the Board. Members are encouraged to nominate their colleagues for membership.  Interested persons are invited to apply for membership.

FINANCING OF THE SOCIETY

The Society is a non-profit charitable association incorporated under the laws of Canada.   In the discussions that led to its formation, the founders were strongly of the view that the Society must retain its independence of thought and action from government.   Accordingly, the Society's key activities and its member services are primarily funded by an annual membership levy and donations.  The Society does, however, solicit financial assistance for specific conferences, seminars, or projects from government departments, agencies, law foundations, and other foundations.

Funding for specific projects has been obtained from The British Council, the Departments of Justice of Canada and New Zealand, The Home Office, the Attorney General's Department of Australia, the Victoria Law Foundation, the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the Law Foundation of Nova Scotia, and the Canadian International Development Agency.  The Law Reform Commission of Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada, and the British Columbia Corrections Branch have also provided important material and financial assistance in the past.

THE BOARD AND COUNCIL

The Society is governed by its Board and a Management Committee.  The Society's officers consist of the President and the Treasurer.  In addition to the Board, there is also a Council of the Society composed of distinguished members of the Society.   Working with the Board, the Council's major role is to set the general policy directions for the Society.

THE PROGRAM OF ACTIVITIES

The Society's program of activities is determined by the members' needes and wishes.   Each year, members are asked to forward suggestions for the program for the following two years.  In December, the Board confirms the program for the following year and outlines plans for the subsequent year.  Members are strongly encouraged to forward ideas and requests to the President or Treasurer.

ISRCL NET

The Society operates an e-mail network amongst members.  The network facilitates the instant exchange of information between members. The Society also operates a web page at www.isrcl.org.

CRIMINAL LAW FORUM

In 1991, the Society established a new international journal, Criminal Law Forum, with the Rutgers University School of Law at Camden, New Jersey.  In late 1998, publication of the journal was moved from Rutgers to Kluwers Academic Publishers, Netherlands.  The Forum is intended to promote new thinking about the fundamental principles of criminal law, to encourage comparative criminal law analysis, and trace the development of new international criminal law.

The Forum publishes major articles, conference papers, notes, comments, speeches, documents of interest, book reviews, notes of documents and books received. All members of the Society receive the Forum.

UNITED NATIONS LINK

The Society participates as a professional organization in the work of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Program through the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council.  Members of the Society have participated in numerous UN meetings.

THE COMMONWEALTH

The Society has a continuing relationship with both the Legal Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and with the Commonwealth of Learning, the Commonwealth's specialized educational agency, located in Vancouver, Canada.

In 1989, members of the Society prepared, at the Commonweath Secretariat's request, a policy paper for Commonweath Law Ministers on Consistency in Sentencing.

The Society worked with the Commonwealth of Learning on a feasibility study of co-operative ventures between Commonwealth countries in continuing judicial education with a special focus on the use of distance education technologies in bringing such programs to developing countries.

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

In September 1991, the Society was accorded observer status on crime problems by the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe.  The Society's participation in the work in the Council in this area  provides criminal justice policy makers in Europe with another valuable link with their counterparts in the jurisdictions in which the Society has members.

THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CRIMINAL LAW REFORM AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY

In February 1991, the Society signed an agreement with Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia to establish the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy in Vancouver, Canada.  The Centre was incorporated in 1992 as a society with its own Board of Directors and became associated as an Institute of the United Nations in the summer of that year.  In July 1995, an agreement was signed with the United Nations to formally affiliate the Centre as an International Institute of the United Nations.

As a centre of excellence on issues in international and comparative criminal law and justice policy, its activities include policy development, research, training development and information dissemination.  The Centre assists the United Nations and other multi-national institutions as one of a co-operative network of regional and research institutes in crime prevention and criminal justice.  The Centre supports the activities of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law as well as the graduate programs of Simon Fraser University in international criminal justice policy and of the University of British Columbia in international and comparative criminal law.

The Centre's activities include:

*  Development of policies relating to the International Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia and a future permanent international criminal court

*  Advice and assistance to national governments on criminal law and procedure,   international human rights and the administration of criminal justice

*  Advice on model legislation for the use of criminal sanctions to protect the               environment

*  A global training and advisory service to prevent and address domestic violence

*  The development of an international peacekeeping program

*  Studies of organized crime, national, trans-national and international crime, economic crime, money laundering, and the impact on women and children

*  Education, communication and information dissemination

*  Advancing common curricula in trans-national and comparative criminal law and criminal justice

*  The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Lecture Series

*  The development of electronic information resources in the fields on criminal law and criminal justice policy

* Contribution to the work of the United Nations Prevention of Crime and Criminal Justice Commission and the United Nations Criminal Justice Congress

INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS AND SEMINARS

In January 1990, the Society's British members held a seminar to assess the prospects for a new criminal code for England and Wales.  In October 1990, the Society members in Southern Africa organized a seminar on Human Rights in the Administration of Criminal Justice in the Southern Africa, set in Botswana.  A second seminar was held in Namibia in June 1992, and a third in Zimbabwe in September 1993.  In May 1991 the Society and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany held a workshop on "Principles and Procedures for a New Transnational Criminal Law."

In September 1992, the Society along with the Ministry of Justice of Slovakia and the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (an institute affiliated with the United Nations) held an international seminar which examined what changes must be made to a system of criminal justice in the wake of a transition from a one-party to a multi-party state.

Society members are also very involved in the movement towards a common criminal code for all the Australia jurisdictions and the meetings held to further such reforms.  In cooperation with the International Centre, international symposia and meetings have been undertaken on a wide range of topics.

In 1993, 70 leading experts from 30 countries convened to discuss and contribute to the International Law Commission's prosecution of individuals responsible for grave breaches of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991.  The report was transmitted by External Affairs, Canada to the U.N. Secretary-General and was utilized extensively in the design of the new International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

In 1995, the International Centre held a meeting of the International Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence.  The Centre also completed a review of international activities in the field of sentencing and corrections and distributed a consultation paper to serve as the focal point for the development of a program by the International Centre.  This was achieved in co-operation with the Correctional Service of Canada and other national and international partners to bring about the international implementation of universally recognized human values and principles applicable to sentencing and corrections.

Since the creation of the International Centre most seminars and international meetings of the Society conferences have been conducted under the auspices of the Centre.