The member states of the United Nations (UN) have reached an agreement on a draft convention text for a new cybercrime treaty after three years of planning and preparation.
This treaty will be the first global legally binding instrument on cybercrime and is expected to be implemented by the UN General Assembly later in 2024.
The primary purpose of the treaty is to address the new methods and opportunities that technology has provided to criminals, including activities such as terrorism, drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and firearms trafficking.
The draft cybercrime convention was formulated by a collaboration of civil, academic, and private organisations across UN member states, with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) providing substantive secretariat support.
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said, “The finalisation of this Convention is a landmark step as the first multilateral anti-crime treaty in over 20 years and the first UN Convention against Cybercrime at a time when threats in cyberspace are growing rapidly.”
“I congratulate Member States and the Ad Hoc Committee, under the leadership of Ambassador Faouzia Boumaiza-Mebarki as Chair and a strong representative of women diplomats, for guiding negotiations and reaching consensus on the final text. UNODC is immensely proud to have supported the negotiation process and to serve as the Secretariat of the Convention,” she added.
“We will continue to play a central role in assisting in the implementation and ratification of the Convention, once adopted by the General Assembly, as well as providing technical assistance to Member States, as we work with all countries and partners to safeguard digital spaces,” Ghada Waly concluded.