In counting the type of violation or abuse, the “most serious offence” rule in criminal justice statistics shall be applied. This means that where more than one offence is committed against the same victim in the preceding 12-months, only the most serious offence is counted against the indicator. Related violations or abuses, whether occurring at the same time as the most serious one or at a different time, shall nevertheless be recorded but not counted against the indicator. Thus, data sources will have to take into account the following hierarchy of violations or abuses: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Killing Torture Enforced disappearance Arbitrary detention Kidnapping Other harmful acts If an incident incorporates elements of more than one category, it is coded to the higher category. Thus, for an incident in which the victim was subjected to prolonged incommunicado detention without medical access in the course of an unlawful detainment, the violation would be counted under torture. The number of perpetrators implicated in any single case will be considered immaterial. In the event that two or more perpetrators are implicated in one case but they belong to different perpetrator categories, the following rule of priority shall be applied: 1. 2. 3. 4. State actor Other actors acting with the State's permission, support or acquiescence Other actors not acting with the State's permission, support or acquiescence/private actors Insufficient information Classifying cases Using an interdisciplinary approach to the measurement of human rights violations or abuses, verified cases will be classified using a two-step process. First, the factual elements of a case are considered in order to determine whether a violation or abuse has taken place as against a particular victim. For this purpose, OHCHR’s Manual on Human Rights Monitoring would provide guidance to the data source. Once a case has been defined, the data source then assigns a unique code and proceeds to the second step which is to classify the case according to ICCS. This step directly responds to the requirements of the indicator by allowing further disaggregation based on different types of violations and abuse. Analytical capability is also expanded through the use of relevant categories to disaggregate the data. Reference period Cases are reported to or taken cognizance of by data sources on a continuing basis but for purposes of SDG annual reporting, the reference period shall be from 1 January to 31 December of the preceding year. Geographical coverage The indicator covers all countries or areas of the world, grouped according to geographical regions, as reflected in the M49 standard prepared by the UN Statistics Division and used for SDG reporting. 8