Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

The statistics include all convictions which are registered in the central criminal register at the time the extract to Statistics Denmark is done, typically about 1 February following the relevant calendar year. A number of convictions made during the calendar year have not been registered before the time of extraction. That implies that the total number of convictions presumably is under-estimated. The exact size is not known but is regarded as limited and of the same extent each year.

Sampling error

There is no sampling error as the statistics are compiled on the basis of administrative registers.

Non-sampling error

No other sources to errors are known.

Quality management

Statistics Denmark follows the recommendations on organisation and management of quality given in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and the implementation guidelines given in the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF). A Working Group on Quality and a central quality assurance function have been established to continuously carry through control of products and processes.

Quality assurance

Statistics Denmark follows the principles in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and uses the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF) for the implementation of the principles. This involves continuous decentralized and central control of products and processes based on documentation following international standards. The central quality assurance function reports to the Working Group on Quality. Reports include suggestions for improvement that are assessed, decided and subsequently implemented.

Quality assessment

The development in the percentage of a birth cohort who have been convicted at a certain age can, besides the actual committed crime, also be affected by the development of the share of the reported crimes that are cleared up: if the police only clear up a small part of the reported offences not that many persons will be convicted and vice versa.

Another issue that can affect the proportion of a birth cohort convicted is changes in mortality and migration: if more people die or emigrate, fewer people have the 'chance' to commit crime and being convicted, and vice versa. In order to shed light on this issue it is examined how big a proportion of the birth cohorts that still form part of the population at certain ages. The result is that the changes in the proportion still forming a part of the population are very small and that they cannot explain the changes in the proportion convicted for crime.

There is no sampling error as the statistics are compiled on the basis of registers.

The statistics are only published as final figures and are not later revised.

Data revision - policy

Statistics Denmark revises published figures in accordance with the Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark. The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.

Data revision practice

Only final figures are published and are not later revised.