From Regional Trends to Global Insights: An Interregional Comparative Analysis of Crime and Justice Trends
30 September 2026 - 11:30–12:30 (GMT+4) | Room 1C | Hybrid event
Ancillary Meeting at the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Abu Dhabi
Organized by: UNICRI I Permanent Mission of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna
Homicide is falling across much of the world — yet crime has never been more profitable, more networked or harder to see. Criminal actors are adapting faster to rapid developments than many institutions can respond, and dynamics in one region increasingly drive those in another, demanding an interregional lens.
UNICRI’s Crime and Justice Trends Study answers that demand: a comparative analysis of crime and criminal justice across nine regions, grounded in consultations with the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network of Institutes (PNI) and additional regional experts.
This ancillary meeting will launch the Study’s capstone publication, Crime and Justice in a Changing World: A Global Trends Analysis.
Three key findings will guide the discussion. Criminal groups are increasingly becoming governance actors within legitimate economies, taxing trade and influencing markets. At the same time, crime is converging in specific geographic areas and criminals are increasingly relying on technology to widen their reach and impact.
East and Southeast Asia-based fraud syndicates commit crime on an industrial scale and with increasing speed, as actors continue to sharpen their techniques, digital skills and adaptability. These changes are putting justice systems under greater pressure, prompting more securitized responses to complex criminality, while practitioners contend with technological asymmetry, legal and cooperation frameworks.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to:
Present the key findings of the Global Trends Analysis, situating national and regional experiences in an interregional context.
Connect research and practice by linking global analysis to the realities of investigation and prosecution.
Inform Member State discussions and policy dialogue on emerging crime challenges and international cooperation.
Agenda
AGENDA
OPENING REMARKS
• H.E. Debora Lepre, Ambassador, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna
• Leif Villadsen, Acting Director, UNICRI
UNICRI’S CRIME AND JUSTICE TRENDS STUDY: INTRODUCTION AND KEY FINDINGS OF THE GLOBAL TRENDS ANALYSIS
• Giordana Lucente, Associate Expert, UNICRI
• Leonid Lantsman, Strategic Trends Analyst, UNICRI
CRIMINAL GOVERNANCE AND THE BLURRING OF LICIT AND ILLICIT MARKETS
• Tuesday Reitano, Managing Director, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)
CRIME CONVERGENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED CRIME IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
• Jisun Choi, Director of International Affairs, Korean Institute of Criminal Justice (KICJ)
A PRACTITIONER’S PERSPECTIVE: INVESTIGATING AND PROSECUTING COMPLEX CRIMINALITY
• Cecilia Vassena, Legal Expert, Permanent Mission of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna
Q&A AND CLOSING REMARKS
Crime may take different forms across regions, but the forces reshaping it increasingly cross borders. Understanding how these trends connect is essential to anticipating where crime is heading — and ensuring that criminal justice responses can keep pace.
Join us in Abu Dhabi or online as we move from regional trends to a global picture of how crime and criminal justice are changing.
Join the event online:
For further information about the event, please contact: Ms Giordana Lucente, UNICRI, giordana.lucente@un.org