The statistical treatment of violent deaths is a complex matter due to the existence of legal, operational and statistical challenges. The recent finalisation and endorsement of the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) provides a firmer ground for the definition and classification of unlawful killings, a large portion of violent deaths.
The gradual implementation of the ICCS will bring greater accuracy and comparability of crime and criminal justice data, including on intentional homicide and other unlawful killings. This note draws on the definition and classification of intentional homicide elaborated in the ICCS and considers additional categories of violent death that fall outside the categorization of intentional homicide as crime.