SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) Statistics Explained Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (statistical annex) Data extracted in August 2018 Planned article update: September 2019 EU trend of SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions This article provides an overview of statistical data on SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions in the European Union (EU). It is based on the set of EU SDG indicators for monitoring of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an EU context. This article is part of a set of statistical articles, which are based on the Eurostat publication Sustainable development in the European Union Monitoring report - 2018 edition. This report is the second edition of Eurostat s series of monitoring reports on sustainable development, which provide a quantitative assessment of progress of the EU towards the SDGs in an EU context. Source : Statistics Explained (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/) - 11/10/2018 1
Table 1: Indicators measuring progress towards SDG 16, EU-28 SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 2
Table 2: Explanation of symbols for indicating progress towards SD objectives and targets Death rate due to homicide The indicator tracks deaths due to [[homicide Glossary:Homicid and injuries inflicted by another person with the intent to injure or kill by any means, including late effects from assault ( International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes X85 to Y09 and Y87.1). It does not include deaths due to legal interventions or war (ICD codes Y35 and Y36). The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently from the population s age structure. SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 3
Less and less people in the EU fall victim to homicide, as shown in Figure 1. In the long-term period between 2002 and 2015, the number of deaths due to homicide per 100 000 persons fell by an average of 4.8 % per year. The decline has been slightly faster in the short-term period since 2010, with an average decrease of 5.2 % per year. Figure 1: Death rate due to homicide, by sex, EU-28, 2002-2015 (number per 100 000 persons)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_10) Figure 2: Death rate due to homicide, by country, 2010 and 2015 (number per 100 000 persons)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_10) SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 4
Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area The indicator shows the share of the population who reported that they face the problem of crime, violence or vandalism in their local area. This describes the situation where the respondent feels crime, violence or vandalism in the area to be a problem for the household, although this perception is not necessarily based on personal experience. The data stem from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Figure 3 indicates that the perceived safety of EU neighbourhoods has improved over the past few years. In the short-term period from 2011 to 2016, the share of the population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area fell by 1.6 % per year on average. The available time series does not allow for a calculation of progress over a long-term period. Figure 3: Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area, EU-27 and EU-28, 2007-2016 (% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_20) SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 5
Figure 4: Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area, by country, 2011 and 2016 (% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_20) General government total expenditure on law courts The indicator refers to the general government total expenditure on law courts, and includes expenditure on the administration, operation or support of civil and criminal law courts and the judicial system, including enforcement of fines and legal settlements imposed by the courts and operation of parole and probation systems, legal representation and advice on behalf of government or on behalf of others provided by government in cash or in services. Low courts include administrative tribunals, ombudsmen and the like and excludes prison administrations. General government expenditure on law courts has increased almost continuously since 2007. In the shortterm period between 2011 and 2016, total spending in million EUR grew on average by 0.6 % annually. On a per capita basis (EUR per inhabitant), expenditure increased as well, but at a slower rate of 0.3 % per year over this period. When expressed as a share of GDP, however, the trend looks less favourable, with a drop of 0.1 percentage points from 0.4 % in 2011 to 0.3 % in 2016. SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 6
Figure 5: General government total expenditure on law courts, EU-28, 2007-2016 (million EUR)Source: Eurostat (sdg_16_30) Figure 6: General government total expenditure on law courts, by country, 2011 and 2016 (EUR per capita)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_30) SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 7
Perceived independence of the justice system The indicator is designed to explore respondents perceptions about the independence of the judiciary across EU Member States, looking specifically at the perceived independence of the courts and judges in a country. Data on the perceived independence of the justice system stem from annual Flash Eurobarometer surveys starting in 2016 on behalf of the European Commission s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers. As shown in Figure 7, more than half of the EU population rated the independence of the justice system as very good or fairly good in 2016 and 2018. The perceived independence has improved slightly since 2016. Figure 7: Perceived independence of the justice system, EU-28, 2016 and 2018(% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_40) SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 8
Figure 8: Perceived independence of the justice system, by country, 2018 (% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_40) Corruption Perceptions Index The indicator is a composite index based on a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption from 13 different sources and scores and ranks countries based on how corrupt a country s public sector is perceived to be, with a score of 0 representing a very high level of corruption and a score of 100 representing a very clean country. The sources of information used for the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) are based on data gathered in the 24 months preceding the publication of the index. The CPI includes only sources that provide a score for a set of countries/territories and that measure perceptions of corruption in the public sector. For a country/territory to be included in the ranking, it must be included in a minimum of three of the CPI s data sources. The CPI is published by Transparency International. Between 2012 and 2017, slightly more than half of the EU Member States (16 countries) improved their CPI score, while 9 countries fell back in their scores. The most notable changes are reported for Greece (+ 12 points) and Hungary (- 10 points). SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 9
Figure 9: Corruption Perceptions Index, by country, 2012 and 2017 (score scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean))source: Eurostat (sdg_16_50) Population with confidence in EU institutions The indicator measures confidence among EU citizens in three EU institutions: the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. It is expressed as the share of positive opinions (people who declare that they tend to trust) about the institutions. Citizens are asked to express their confidence levels by choosing the following alternatives: tend to trust, tend not to trust and don t know or no answer. The indicator is based on the Eurobarometer, a survey which has been conducted twice a year since 1973 to monitor the evolution of public opinion in the Member States. The indicator only displays the results of the autumn survey. As shown in Figure 10, the deterioration of trust in EU institutions observed since the early 2000s appears to have stopped in recent years. While the share of the population expressing confidence fell by between 1.5 % (European Central Bank) and 1.8 % (European Parliament) on average per year over the long-term period from 2002 to 2017, in the short-term period since 2012 trust levels grew by between 0.5 % (European Parliament) and 1.1 % (European Central Bank) per year on average. SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 10
Figure 10: Population with confidence in EU institutions, by institution, EU-28, 1999-2017 (% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_60) Figure 11: Population with confidence in EU institutions by institution and country, 2017 (% of population)source: Eurostat (sdg_16_60) See also All articles on sustainable development Database Sustainable Development Indicators Dedicated section Europe 2020 indicators Sustainable Development Indicators Methodology More detailed information on EU SDG indicators for monitoring of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as indicator relevance, definitions, methodological notes, background and potential linkages, can be found in the introduction of the publication Sustainable development in the European Union Monitoring report - 2018 edition. SDG 16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions (statistical annex) 11