Estimating the Costs of the Criminal Justice System

This chapter looks into the economic costs of drug control to the criminal justice systems in four European countries, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain as a contribution to the debate on the costs of illicit drugs to society suggesting paths for investigation. At the global level, extensive evidence has been collected and research has been carried out on the importance of estimating the costs of crime to society [1]. However, there is still little evidence on some aspects of the criminal justice costs considered in relation to the laws and regulations for which they were incurred. The study of Farrell and Clark [2] is one example of an empirical estimate of the direct cost of public expenditure on the global criminal justice system. Using six different regression models, the study found that there was a direct relationship between the wealth of nations and the amount spent on criminal justice: richer countries spend more GDP per capita than less developed countries. Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain show both differences and commonalities in terms of their geographical position, economic development and criminal justice system organization in relation to drug control. All four countries are based on a civil law system and have old judicial traditions. The analysis shows that drug-related costs for the three sectors considered (police, courts and prisons) as a share of GDP, from 2010 to 2018, have increased only for Poland, while for Italy, there has been a slight decrease and for Portugal and Spain drug-related justice expenditure has sharply decreased.