[1] The commission serves as the primary organ that guides the activities of the United Nations in the fields of crime prevention and criminal justice.

However, this participation was limited to a Child Welfare Bureau that focused mainly on the issue of juvenile delinquency, and which worked closely with the International Penal and Penitentiary Commission (IPPC).

[4][5] After World War II, and the creation of the UN, many interest groups tried to incorporate their work into the new UN system through the establishment of specialized agencies.

[4][6][7] This Group met twice, in 1949 and 1950, before being replaced by a more permanent Ad Hoc Advisory Committee of Experts on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders which continued its functions.

[4][6][8] In 1965 the UN assigned Thorsten Erikkson, the Chair of the 1963 meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, to review the organization's work in the field of social defense.

In his report, Erikkson made three suggestions: to create a Social Defence Trust Fund, to establish the UN Social Defence Research Institute (the predecessor to the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) and to reorganize the Ad Hoc Committee by making it a permanent Committee under ECOSOC and by expanding its membership to 10.

The resolution that created the committee also requested that the Secretary-General involve the regional commissions more closely in the field of crime prevention.

However, as the crime program grew and the issues it worked on became more complex, these experts were replaced by state-appointed agents who represented the interests of Member States and acted on their behalf.

[16] As a remnant of the 1950 agreement between the UN and the IPPC, the commission is responsible for organizing and convening an international congress every five years, the purpose of which is to enable the exchange of information and best practices in the field of crime prevention and control.

These congresses aim to promote more effective crime prevention policies and criminal justice systems in Member States.

[30] The 1985 congress also resulted in the Milan Plan of Action, which stated that the problem of crime was an issue of global concern, hampering political, economic, social and cultural development across the world.

It also stated that the UN should, as a universal public forum, play a larger role in multilateral cooperation to tackle the issues of terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and organized crime.