Panel discussions, contemplations, International Society of Criminology (ISC) General Assembly and concluding remarks by delegates Wednesday marked the formal valediction of the 19th World Congress on Criminology.
Discussions and presentations were held on topics ‘juvenile delinquency’, ‘criminal justice and human rights’, ‘prosecution, sentencing and prevention in South Asia’, ‘religion and crime and domestic violence’ at four venues.

Dr Emilio C Viano, president, ISC, addressing the valediction of the World Congress of Criminology


While addressing the General Assembly, Dr Emilio C Viano, president, ISC, thanked the organisers for hosting the mega event successfully. He said Qatar’s contributions have helped ISC and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) discharge there duties for the betterment of the world. He noted that the conference turned out to be spectacular with it's higher number of women participants.
Jianhong Liu, president, Scientific Commission, ISC, noted that criminologists have started paying increasing attention to non-Western societies as a result of the development of global interdependence.
“Criminology originated in Western countries and early great progress occurred in in the US and Europe. But, non-Western societies are getting attention,” he said and added that there are certain shortcomings prevailing while it comes to criminology in non-Western countries.
He added that there is a need to develop the non-Western criminology and counter the colonial criminology.
Earlier, while attending the ‘restorative justice and prevention: public input’, Dr Mohamed Mattar, professor at the Faculty of Law at Qatar University, called for a distinction in legal settlements between the natures of cases as there are crimes that are very dangerous to reconcile with the perpetrators such as criminals who exploit minor children.
“The well-established rule in Arab Criminal Procedures Laws is that a public prosecutor has the sole jurisdiction to file a criminal suit. It is also a widely recognised rule that a criminal trial may not be waived, abandoned or suspended by the parties to the criminal action,” he said.
The paper also paid special attention to the application of these guidelines and principles to new forms of crimes, especially those involving organised crimes, money laundering, human trafficking and terrorism.
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