Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457): Topic: Law and criminality — Study Guide

This guide covers the topic Law and criminality in Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457), using the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Law and criminality is one of the 22 topics listed in section 3, and that list is used for all three components in section 4: Component 1 Written Exam, Component 2 Individual Report and Component 3 Team Project. Topic knowledge is not assessed. The syllabus states that “knowledge of content is not assessed in this syllabus”, so this page does not ask you to learn criminal law. It shows you how to use law and crime to practise the assessed skills: research, analysis, evaluation, reflection, communication and collaboration.

Use this guide with the Law and criminality revision notes and the Law and criminality practice questions. For the whole course, see the IGCSE Global Perspectives hub and the IGCSE Global Perspectives checklist.

What the syllabus asks of you

Syllabus reference	What you must be able to do (from the document)	Where assessed
Section 2, AO1 Research, analysis and evaluation	Research global issues, their causes and consequences and possible courses of action; use evidence to support claims; analyse and evaluate evidence, reasoning and sources; develop a line of reasoning	All components (100% of Component 1)
Section 2, AO2 Reflection	Consider different perspectives objectively and with empathy; justify your own perspective with evidence and reasoning; consider how research and teamwork influenced your learning	Components 2 and 3
Section 2, AO3 Communication and collaboration	Present arguments, evidence and perspectives clearly; include citations and references; contribute to the Team Project	Components 2 and 3
Section 3, topic list and key terms	Use a topic such as Law and criminality as a context; know the meanings of issue, perspective, research, evidence and argument	All components
Section 4, Component 1	Analyse sources; evaluate research and suggest ways to test a claim; evaluate arguments and judge their quality; assess actions. Understand bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest	Written Exam, 1 hour 25 minutes, 70 marks
Section 4, Component 2	Research a global issue that divides opinion; local and/or national and global perspectives; causes, consequences, courses of action; evaluate sources; reach your own view	Individual Report, 1500–2000 words, 60 marks
Section 4, Component 3	Identify a local issue as a team; research different perspectives; plan, carry out and measure an action; reflect	Team Project, 70 marks

The syllabus defines an issue as “an important subject or problem for discussion” and a perspective as “a viewpoint on an issue based on evidence and reasoning”. Law and criminality is the topic. The issue is a specific question inside it that people disagree about.

Issues in law and criminality at three levels

Crime is not an issue in itself; almost everyone agrees crime is bad. The disagreement is about how to respond: what should be illegal, how offenders should be treated, and who should pay for prevention.

Level	Example issues that divide opinion
Global	Should countries share data to fight online fraud that crosses borders? Should drug use be treated as a crime or a health problem? Should international courts try leaders accused of serious crimes?
National	What should the minimum age of criminal responsibility be? Should short prison sentences be replaced by community sentences? Should police have new powers to stop and search?
Local	Would a curfew for young people make a town centre safer? Should a school use cameras in corridors? Should a council fund youth clubs or extra patrols?

Key terms. Use these to describe issues precisely, not to show off knowledge.

• Law: a rule made by a recognised authority, such as a parliament, that is enforced by courts and the state.
• Crime: an act that breaks the criminal law and can be punished by the state.
• Criminal justice system: the police, courts, prisons and probation services that deal with crime.
• Deterrence: the idea that punishment stops people offending because they fear the consequences.
• Rehabilitation: helping an offender change so that they do not offend again.
• Retribution: punishment as a deserved response to wrongdoing.
• Restorative justice: bringing offender and victim (or community) together so the offender understands the harm and repairs it.
• Reoffending (recidivism): committing another crime after being punished for an earlier one.
• Decriminalisation: an act stays against the rules but is no longer a criminal offence; it may still bring a fine or other penalty. Legalisation makes the act lawful.
• Recorded crime: crime reported to and recorded by the police. It is not the same as all crime that happens.

Real-world examples you could research

Check each one against reliable, up-to-date sources before you use it in coursework.

• Global scale of violent crime. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Study on Homicide 2023 estimated about 458,000 intentional homicides worldwide in 2021, more than the deaths from armed conflict and terrorism combined. Strength: an international body that compiles data from many countries. Limitation: data quality varies between countries, so a global total is an estimate and hides large differences between regions.
• Drug laws. In July 2001 Portugal decriminalised the personal possession and use of all illegal drugs, under Law 30/2000. Possession of small amounts became an administrative matter dealt with by panels that can refer people to treatment or set penalties; trafficking stayed a crime. Perspectives: supporters see a health-first approach; critics argue it may send a message that drug use is acceptable. Limitation: other policies changed at the same time, so it is hard to say which change caused any later trend.
• Age of criminal responsibility. In England and Wales it is 10. Scotland raised it from 8 to 12 through the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019, with the new age in force from December 2021. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in General Comment No. 24 (2019), encourages countries to set it at least at 14. Value: this shows one issue with national perspectives (two parts of the UK differ) and a global perspective (a UN body).
• Cybercrime. The Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention (2001) was the first international treaty on cybercrime. On 24 December 2024 the UN General Assembly adopted a UN Convention against Cybercrime. Supporters stress cross-border cooperation; some human rights groups argued its powers could be misused for surveillance. Value: a clear global issue with competing values of security and privacy.

Perspectives: who thinks what, and why

The syllabus wants you to understand “why different people have different perspectives”. On crime, perspectives usually differ because of:

• Values. Some people put public safety first; others put individual freedom or a second chance first. Some see punishment as deserved (retribution); others judge a policy by whether it reduces harm.
• Experience. A victim of burglary, a former offender, a police officer and a youth worker have each seen a different part of the system.
• Vested interest. A security company gains if people fear crime. A shop owner gains if a policy moves young people away from their shop.
• Position. A national government must think about cost and the whole country; a local resident thinks about one street.

Worked example: perspectives on drug possession. A police officer may argue that arrests deter use. A doctor may argue that a criminal record stops people seeking treatment. A parent who lost a child to drugs might hold either view, depending on their experience. A government finance department may focus on the cost of prisons. To earn marks, explain the reason behind each view, with empathy, before you weigh them.

Causes and consequences

Analysis means building chains, not lists. Causes of crime are contested, so present them as possible factors supported by evidence, not as certainties, and avoid statements that stereotype whole groups.

Example chain (consequence). A young person receives a criminal record for a minor offence (cause). Employers may be less willing to hire them (consequence). Without work or income, the risk of reoffending may rise (further consequence). The community then pays again through more crime and more court costs (knock-on consequence). Use linking words such as because, so, which means that and as a result; each link is reasoning an examiner can credit.

Judging sources and evidence

Component 1 candidates “will benefit from an understanding of the following: bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest”. Here they are with invented crime examples.

Term	Invented example
Claim	“Longer sentences make streets safer.”
Fact	“The town’s police station recorded 41 bicycle thefts last year.”
Opinion	“Community service is too soft a punishment.”
Generalisation	“Teenagers who hang around in groups are up to no good.”
Prediction	“If the youth club closes, crime will double.”
Value	“Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Vested interest	A company selling alarms funds a survey on fear of burglary.
Bias	A report that quotes only victims, or only offenders.

Problems special to crime evidence. Crime figures need extra care.

• Recorded crime is not all crime. Many crimes are never reported. A rise in recorded crime can mean more crime, or more reporting, or new recording rules.
• Fear of crime is not crime. A survey showing people feel unsafe is evidence about feelings, not about how much crime happens.
• Correlation is not causation. If crime fell after a new policy, something else may have caused the fall.
• Self-selection. Programmes often report results only for people who chose to join and completed them.

Worked example paragraph (evaluating evidence). A council in the fictional town of Harwell claims new street lighting “cut crime by 25%”, because recorded thefts on the lit streets fell from 52 to 39 in a year. [Analysis] The arithmetic is correct, but the evidence does not show the lighting caused the fall. [Evaluation] In a nearby area with no new lights, thefts also fell, from 48 to 38, about 21%, so most of the fall may have happened anyway. The council also has a vested interest in showing its spending worked. [Judgement] The claim is only weakly supported; a longer comparison over several years with more than one comparison area would test it better.

Suggesting how to test a claim. Component 1 Question 2 asks you to “suggest ways to research or test a claim”. A strong suggestion names the method, the sample, the comparison and the measure. For example: compare recorded thefts in several lit and unlit streets for two years before and after, and add a survey of residents asking about crimes they did not report.

Courses of action

A course of action is a step a person, group or government could take to change, improve or resolve an issue. Judge each one against stated criteria:

• Effectiveness: does it tackle a cause or only a symptom?
• Fairness and rights: does it treat innocent people as suspects?
• Cost and feasibility: who pays, and is it realistic?
• Unintended consequences: could it move crime elsewhere or damage trust?
• Sustainability: will it last once funding or attention ends?

Worked example paragraph (assessing actions). To reduce shoplifting in a town centre, one action is more police patrols. [Application] This may deter offenders while officers are present. [Analysis] However, it does not address why people steal, and crime may move to times or places without patrols. [Evaluation] A second action, a mentoring scheme for young people already in trouble, targets a cause, but results take longer to show and cost more per person. [Judgement] Patrols give quick reassurance, but mentoring is more likely to reduce crime over time, so a council could use patrols briefly while the mentoring scheme is set up.

Individual Report ideas

The syllabus asks for a global research question on an issue that “divides opinion”, with local and/or national and global perspectives, causes and consequences, a single proposed course of action and your own view.

• Should drug possession be treated as a health issue rather than a crime?
• What should the minimum age of criminal responsibility be?
• Do prisons do more to punish offenders or to reduce reoffending?
• Should governments be able to monitor online activity to fight cybercrime?

“Crime” or “prisons” alone is a topic. A question that asks should, to what extent or how effective gives scope for different perspectives. See the Individual Report study guide.

Team Project ideas

The Team Project needs a local issue and an action the team can carry out and measure. Keep it safe: do not investigate crimes, approach suspects or collect personal details about offences. Work through your school.

• Bicycle theft at school. Action: a security-marking day with a lock-checking stall. Measure: number of bikes marked; a short survey on locking habits before and after.
• Phone and text scams targeting older residents. Action: an advice session at a community centre. Measure: a quiz on spotting scams before and after.
• Feeling unsafe walking home. Action: a map of well-lit routes shared with students. Measure: a survey of how safe students feel.

Each member researches a different perspective, such as students, parents, local police or shopkeepers. See the Team Project study guide.

Common errors

• Writing what you know about crime or law. Knowledge is not credited; skills are.
• Choosing “crime” as an issue. You need a question about how to respond that divides opinion.
• Treating recorded crime figures as the true amount of crime.
• Treating a fear-of-crime survey as proof that crime has risen.
• Calling a source “biased” without naming the vested interest or value behind it.
• Stereotyping groups (“young people from that area”) instead of using evidence.
• Proposing a national law as a Team Project action that your team cannot carry out or measure.
• Giving your own verdict on a contested issue without weighing the other perspectives first.

Where to go next

• Law and criminality revision notes and practice questions
• Written Exam study guide and Written Exam revision notes
• Individual Report revision notes and Team Project revision notes

Official syllabus

This guide is based on the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025), sections 2, 3 and 4. Your teacher will confirm how your school uses the Law and criminality topic across the three components.