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LEGAL CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OFFENCE PREVENTION: INTERNATIONAL APPROACHES AND THE NATIONAL EVALUATION MODEL

Shahboz Nusratullayev

Science-Conference.com
Volume: 4
Issue: 1
Date: January 29, 2026

Abstract

This article analyses the legal criteria applied at the international and national levels to the assessment of the effectiveness of offence prevention activity. It sets out the historical necessity of the transition from a purely punitive policy to an evidence-based preventive policy, examines the principal contribution of criminological scholarship to the formation of the concept of effectiveness, analyses the international legal instruments that regulate evaluation practice, compares the national evaluation model of the Republic of Uzbekistan with those international standards, and advances specific proposals for legislative and institutional improvement.

Keywords

crime prevention, offence prevention, effectiveness assessment, evidence-based policy, situational crime prevention, routine activity theory, ECOSOC Guidelines, European Crime Prevention Network, Law on the Prevention of Offences.

References

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