Crime, Justice and Security Statistics - 2020Highlights
- 1. Crime, justice and security statistics comprises statistics compiled from the Mauritius Police Force, the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, the Judiciary, the Mauritius Prison Service & the Probation and Aftercare Service.
2. Care should be taken in interpreting these figures. When comparing figures, it should be realised that police and judiciary figures are based on offences but prison and probation figures are based on offenders, and that many offenders are sentenced for more than one offence. Offences reported at the police can sometimes be reclassified as they proceed from police investigation through prosecution to final court sentence. Also trends in certain offences are subject to fluctuations as a result of sensitisation/awareness campaigns and intelligence-led operations.
Key points
 |
3. Offences reported to the Police, excluding contraventions, increased by 23.1% from 45,004 in 2019 to 55,402 in 2020 mainly due to a rise in drug offences (+7.4%), partly offset by a decrease in assault (-10.7%).
4. Road traffic contraventions decreased by 28.5%, from 176,692 in 2019 to 126,358 in 2020. It is to be noted that "exceeding speed limit" decreased by 40.6% from 81,691 to 48,556.
5. Some 19,367 persons were suspected, arrested and/or cautioned in the course of criminal investigations in 2020, up by 21.5% from 15,941 in 2019. The number of persons prosecuted fell by 10.9% from 14,841 in 2019 to 13,226 in 2020.
6. From 2019 to 2020, the number of cases referred by Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Intermediate and Supreme Courts decreased by 24.1% from 1,037 in 2019 to 787 in 2020.
7. The number of criminal cases lodged in Court decreased by 14.3% from 80,993 in 2019 to 69,449 in 2020. During the same period, the number of criminal cases disposed of dropped by 40.7% from 84,363 to 50,036.
8. Out of the 3,328 adult convicts admitted in prison in 2020, some 72.1% were re-offenders who had been imprisoned in the past, regardless of any observation period.
9. An average amount of Rs 794 was spent daily to maintain a detainee in 2020 in the Island of Mauritius compared to Rs 746 in 2019.
10. The number of Probation Orders issued, decreased by 61.0% from 200 in 2019 to 78 in 2020.
11. The number of offenders, subjected to community service orders, decreased by 32.6% from 524 in 2019 to 353 in 2020.
30 June 2021
