2 Previously convicted persons among adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses

  Fig. 3-5-1-2 shows the number of previously convicted persons (referring to those who had previously been sentenced for their offenses excluding Road Traffic Act violations by final judgment; hereinafter the same in this section) among adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses, and their the rate of previously convicted persons (referring to the percent ratio of previously convicted persons among adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses; hereinafter the same in this section), over the last 10 years.
  The number of previously convicted persons among adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses had been increasing in recent years, but decreased slightly in 2007 from the previous year by 2,999 persons (3.9%). On the other hand, the rate of previously convicted persons has been in the range of 27% to 30% since 1997. Looking at the number of previous convictions of those cleared in 2007, the ratio of those with one conviction was the highest at 39.4% while that of those with five or more convictions was also high at 23.0%.

Fig. 3-5-1-2  Number and rate of previously convicted persons among adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses (1998–2007)

  Table 3-5-1-3 shows the number and rate of previously convicted persons and of those with the previous convictions for the same type of offense (according to the statistical classification made by National Police Agency; hereinafter the same in this section), among the adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses by type of major offense in 2007.

Table 3-5-1-3  Number of adults previously convicted and those with the previous convictions for the same type of offenses, by type of major offense (2007)

  The rate of previously convicted persons was 28.5% for overall persons cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses, but was over 50% for those for extortion and intimidation, nearly 50% for those for robbery, and almost 40% for those for injury and fraud.
  The rate of those with previous convictions for the same type of offense was 14.0% for overall persons cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses, but was about 20% for those with previous convictions for injury, theft, and extortion.
  The ratio of persons who had previously been cleared for the same type of offense among those cleared for Stimulants Control Act violations was 57.1%.