Sussex alumna, Lunga Benghu, is Director of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation at the South African Embassy in Austria.

Prof Shute described the event as "the single most important forum for discussion and decisions on Criminal Law and Criminal Justice issues held anywhere in the world."

Prof Shute's presentation focused on the prevention of reoffending.

In his role as 11^th President of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF), Stephen Shute, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice within the Sussex Law School at the University of Sussex, was invited to speak at the 15^th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi.

Professor Shute’s presentation on ‘Pushing the Frontiers of Reducing Reoffending’ was given on the third day of the six-day event which opened on 26 September 2026.

The Congress is held every five years since its launch in 1955 in Geneva. This year saw a record number of participants - more than 5,100 from Member States, international organisations, the private sector, civil society and academia. 119 Member States were represented, including more than 40 Ministers of Justice and other high-level officials.

Professor Shute was the first British President of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF) as reported in 2023.

Professor Shute said:

“‘I was honoured to able to speak at the 15^th UN Crime Congress in Abu Dhabi this week, an event which is, without doubt, the single most important forum for discussion and decision on Criminal Law and Criminal Justice issues held anywhere in the world. My talk - delivered at a session convened by the Unted Nations Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI) and co-organised by the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF) - focused on the prevention of reoffending and drew on the outputs from the highly successful international colloquium which the IPPF organised in partnership with the Japanese Ministry of Justice and UNAFEI in Tokyo in October 2025.”

“In my talk, I juxtaposed some of the general challenges that states face when seeking to deliver effective crime reduction programmes with nine examples of good practice drawn from different countries across the world. I also launched the publication by the IPPF of a list of propositions on reducing reoffending which it calls on all states to implement.”

Professor Shute met Lunga Bengu, Minister Plenipotentiary from the South African Embassy/Permanent Mission in Vienna, Austria, at the event. Bengu is a Sussex alumnus who graduated in 2001.

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