This report provides summary narrative descriptions of the history, provisions, and administration of sex offender registration and notification laws in each of the countries throughout the world that have enacted such laws.
The countries are broadly categorized under continents (North America, Europe. Asia, Caribbean and South America, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa), with the countries under each continent sequenced in chronological order by date when the legislation was enacted. The following countries have laws that govern sex offender registration systems at the national and/or provincial level: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, France, Germany, India, the Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Maldives, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and Commonwealth Nations, and the United States. The following countries have considered or are considering sex offender registration and notification law: Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Cayman Islands, Fiji, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Malaysia, Poland, Samoa, St. Lucia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe. Statutory references, where available, are provided, and the footnotes contain additional references that might assist readers in accessing more detailed information about a country's sex offender registration and notification provisions. Appendixes contain statutory references, Australian State and Territory references, Canadian provincial regulations, and a summary table of national provisions.