Vienna (Austria), 13 May 2024 – The 33rd session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) opened on 13 May 2024, bringing together Member States and other stakeholders to deliberate on various aspects of crime prevention and criminal justice, including along this year’s theme of “Promoting international cooperation and technical assistance to prevent and address organized crime, corruption, terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and other forms of crime, including in the areas of extradition, mutual legal assistance and asset recovery”.
As the main policy making body of the United Nations system in addressing crime prevention and criminal justice issues, the Commission plays a critical role in advancing collective efforts against national and transnational crime, while strengthening fair and effective criminal justice institutions.
“The CCPCJ plays a pivotal role in advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions. With its focus on extradition, mutual legal assistance and asset recovery, the theme of this session is particularly relevant. Enhanced international cooperation to achieve meaningful progress on these issues is crucial for global peace and security, and sustainable development,” said President of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Dennis FRANCIS in his opening remarks delivered via a video message.
“There is no doubt that our multilateral system must be fit enough to effectively address the day's pressing issues, while remaining adaptable to meet the priorities and challenges of future generations,” he added.
Ghada WALY, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), reiterated that “responding to the obstacles facing justice today is a challenge that no country can meet alone”. She added: “At the operational level, cooperation across borders is crucial at every stage - from intelligence sharing for stronger detection, to law enforcement cooperation during investigations, to mutual legal assistance and informal judicial cooperation.”
CCPCJ Chair H.E. Ivo ŠRÁMEK (Czechia) hosted a special event on “Protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda in the digital age – Preparations for the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”on the first day of the 33rd session, thereby highlighting the Congress’ role in the achievement of Agenda 2030.
The event was also designed to shed light on the substantive preparations through the lens of key elements included in the overarching theme for the 15th UN Crime Congress, namely “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”.
The event also provided an opportunity to further reflect on good practices and lessons learned from past Crime Congresses. The Chair emphasized that “[SDG 16] remains one of the most important cross-cutting enablers for the entire 2030 Agenda. The 2021 Kyoto Declaration saw Member States commit to contributing towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development via enhanced efforts in crime prevention and criminal justice, acknowledging the intrinsic link between sustainable development and the rule of law.”
The CCPCJ is in a unique position to support the achievement of SDG16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) through promoting action in a broad range of areas, such as reducing violence, ending abuse, countering trafficking in persons and wildlife, addressing illicit financial and arms flows, and preventing and countering corruption.
Alongside the Executive Director of the UNODC, the event featured Lieutenant Colonel Dana Humaid, Director General of the International Office of the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates (the host country of the 15th Crime Congress);H.E. Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia Trejo, Permanent Representative of Mexico; H.E. Delphine Anne Hournau-Pouëzat, Permanent Representative of France;H.E. Jassim Yaaqob Y.A. Al-Hamadi, Permanent Representative of Qatar;Dr.Junhwi Park, Vice-President of the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice; Yoshimitsu Yamauchi, Director of UNAFEI and former Head of the National Organizing Committee for the 14th Crime Congress;Ian Tennant, Chair of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice; Rania Ali, representative of the GenJust youth network;David Rausis from the UNODC Research and Analysis Branch; and Gilberto Duarte from the UNODC Liaison Office in New York.
