UNODC and Drug Treatment Courts ("Drug Courts")

Testimonies:

It is great personal satisfaction to see someone who was a complete addict, written off by everybody, to go through the programme, do well and become a productive member of society". (Senior Crown Counsel)

"Public interest is best served by a situation where an individual manages to overcome an addiction and no longer needs to finance this addiction; then the cycle is broken". (Drug Court Judge)

"I want to thank the police officer for arresting me then; thanks to Drug Court and the team now I got my life and my family back". (Drug Court Graduate)

"I lived for drugs for 20 years; I lost myself, my family, everything". (Drug Court Graduate)

• When drug abuse prevention fails, the public pays a high price, particularly if abusers commit serious offences under the influence of drugs (e.g., domestic violence) or to help pay for their habit (e.g., burglary, theft).
• The UN 1988 Drugs Convention, UNGASS Guiding Principles on Demand Reduction and related Action Plan specifically target drug-abusing offenders and call on governments to take effective multidisciplinary remedial initiatives. Drug Courts can be a very effective element in an overall package of responses.
• Successful Drug Courts rest on three pillars requiring a close partnership between the justice and treatment systems:
• • appropriate treatment;
  • court-based monitoring of programme progress through ongoing case management, regular court appearances, incentives to reward progress and sanctions to correct non-compliance;
  • mandatory drug testing to reinforce monitoring and strengthen participant accountability.
• Drug Courts began in the United States in 1989 as one way of stopping ongoing crime by addressing underlying drug abuse. Judges, prosecutors and treatment providers initiated the courts.

UNODC's Expert Working Group on Drug Treatment Courts -- Success Factors and Best Practice

When UNODC's Legal Advisory Programme began its Drug Court work in 1996, there were no Drug Courts outside the United States. Since then, UNODC has built a practitioner network, which enabled initiatives like the December 1999 Expert Working Group. The report of that working group has since been used as a guide to establish Drug Courts outside the United States.

UNODC's Expert Working Group reviewed collective Drug Court experience and impact, identified core factors underlying effectiveness and success, described what needed to change to achieve success and developed practical guidelines on how best to establish and implement these courts.

The group identified the following 12 success factors for Drug Courts:

The 1999 Expert Working Group then formulated 12 key principles for court-directed treatment and rehabilitation programmes in Drug Courts:

Growing International Impact of Drug Treatment Courts

• Drug Courts now exist in a growing number of jurisdictions [e.g., Australia and Canada (1999); Ireland (2000); Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Scotland (2001); New Zealand, Mauritius, England, Wales, Northern Ireland (2002)]. UNODC's Legal Advisory Programme has provided technical assistance to help plan, establish and operate courts in Jamaica, Mauritius and in other major demand jurisdictions, like Canada and Scotland.
• Although treatment had long been part of the way courts in many countries dealt with drug offenders, the multidisciplinary, therapeutic and intensive way Drug Courts dealt with the offender throughout the programme was new and unique for all legal systems.
• Drug Courts have evolved to suit different legal traditions (e.g. common law, civil law), cultures and localities. Underlying objectives, operating principles and core characteristics are usually similar, but priorities and means of achieving them often differ. Differences include target group, eligibility criteria, at what point in the justice process the case is diverted to treatment, etc.
• To achieve the full benefits from Drug Courts, both common law tradition and civil law tradition States had to change the way they dealt with drug abusing offenders. For example:
  • Common law adversarial system judges had to learn to directly interact with participants, rather than leave the conduct of the case to the prosecution and defence;
  • Civil law inquisitorial system judges required legislation to enable them to oversee the programme before sentencing or to continue to supervise the case after sentencing;
  • Judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police and treatment personnel in all legal systems had to learn the difficult process of effective multidisciplinary teamwork.
  • Drug Courts reflect a transformation of the way courts traditionally dealt with drug-abusing offender criminal casework. The traditional process was adversarial, emphasized the efficient but backward-looking adjudication of claims, rights and responsibilities and involved few participants and stakeholders. The transformed process practiced in Drug Courts is collaborative, needs-based and emphasizes forward-looking, post-adjudication problem-solving and dispute avoidance, with a wide range of participants and stakeholders. It is aimed at efficient case processing and effective case outcomes to stop criminal recidivism and drug abuse.
  • Evaluations on the various Drug Court programmes show higher non-recidivism and retention in treatment rates than alternatives, whether traditional treatment or prison. Drug Courts are stopping the revolving door back into prison.

UNODC's Legal Advisory Programme works closely with professionals, practitioners and organizations in an informal Drug Court network. Below are useful links:

International Association of Drug Treatment Courts (IADTC)

http://www.nadcp.org/iadtc/

National Association of Drug Court Professionals (USA)

http://www.nadcp.org

Australia:

New South Wales

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/drugcrt/drugcrt.nsf/pages/index

Queensland

http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/courts/factsht/qc_fact3.htm

Canada:

http://www.prevention.gc.ca/en/library/features/dtc/index.html

http://www.torontodrugtreatmentcourt.ca

Chile:

http://www.pazciudadana.cl/drogas.php

Sotland:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/crf70.pdf

International Association of Drug Treatment Courts (IADTC)

http://www.nadcp.org/iadtc/

National Association of Drug Court Professionals (USA)

http://www.nadcp.org