Preparations for the Fifteenth Crime Congress

The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is the world's largest and most diverse gathering of policy-makers, practitioners, academia, intergovernmental organizations and civil society in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. The Congresses have been held every five years since 1955 in different parts of the world, dealing with a vast array of topics. They have made considerable impact in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice and influenced national and international policies and professional practices.

The Congresses provide a forum for (a) the exchange of views between States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and individual experts representing various professions and disciplines; (b) the exchange of experiences in research, law and policy development; and (c) the identification of emerging trends and issues in crime prevention and criminal justice.

The Fifteenth Crime Congress will be held from 25 to 30 April 2026 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under the overall theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, in line with the General Assembly resolution 78/223.

Agenda

Timeline of preparations

Events

A number of events are held in the lead-up to the Fifteenth Congress, to raise awareness about the substantive and organizational preparations for 2026.

General Assembly Third Committee, 16 October 2024

In the Pact for the Future, adopted during the Summit of the Future held in September 2024 in New York, Member States reaffirmed “the need to build peaceful just and inclusive societies that provide equal access to justice”.

At the margins of the Third Committee of the General Assembly, a high-level side event entitled “(Im)Pact for the Future: Protecting people and planet and turbocharging the 2030 Agenda in the Digital age – in preparations for the Fifteenth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”, was organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This event focused on the interlinkages between the Fifteenth Crime Congress’ agenda and the outcomes of the Summit of the Future, namely the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generation.

COP28, 3 December 2023

The event, held in Dubai, addressed the importance of addressing the interdependent impacts of climate change on crime prevention and criminal justice, building upon the overarching theme of the Fifteenth Congress with its focus, inter alia, on the protection of people and the planet. The interactive panel shared challenges and good practices with regard to the adaptability of crime prevention and criminal justice infrastructure and actors to deal with the impact of climate change; crime prevention, youth engagement and access to justice for people affected by environmental crime and disasters; and enhanced multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder cooperation.

The event featured insightful interventions by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, the Ministry of Justice of France, the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Justice of Brazil, UN Women, INTERPOL and UN-Habitat, as well as a youth speaker.

General Assembly Third Committee, 7 November 2023

The special event, held in New York, shed light on the substantive preparations for the Fifteenth Crime Congress. Keynote speakers and panelists elaborated on the key elements included in the overarching theme of the Congress, stressing the importance of advance preparations for 2026 while building upon the substantive achievements made at the Fourteenth Congress (Kyoto, 2021).

The event featured the President of the General Assembly, the President of ECOSOC, the Executive Director of UNODC, the Foreign Minister of Japan, the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the UN in Vienna, the Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the UN in New York, the Secretary to the CCPCJ and the Fifteenth Congress, and a youth speaker.

Generation Justice initiative

The Generation Justice (GenJust) initiative was launched by UNODC in 2024 with a view to making the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and the process leading up to it, the most youth-inclusive one ever, by creating the space for young people and amplifying their voice as well as facilitating their contribution. The initiative aims at harnessing the energy of younger generations and fostering their engagement in the work of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in preparation for the Crime Congress, the Crime Congress itself and its follow-up.