Cybercrime P1: The road to a new UN convention

On 28 February, UN Member States began the official negotiation process of a new UN legal instrument on cybercrime. 

In this episode we look back at the first negotiation session with a representative of the UK's delegation. We consider the major issues in the negotiations, how different positions are emerging on issues like defining cybercrimes, what activities should be criminalized, and how human rights and sovereignty play into discussions. We also discuss how widely adopted existing instruments like the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, or the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention are shaping the discussions.

Presenter: Ian Tennant, Head of Vienna Multilateral Representation & Resilience Fund, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Guest: Matthew Osborne, Official at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO): Cyber Policy Department - he was part of the UK delegation for the first ad hoc committee meeting in New York earlier this year.

Additional Reading

(GITOC) UN Cybercrime negotiations: Industry roundtable, 29 March 2022

(GITOC) Guidance note on a draft convention on cybercrime

(GITOC) GI-TOC Director's statement to the first session of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on cybercrime

(GITOC) Control, alt, or delete? The UN cybercrime debate enters a new phase

(GITOC) Cyber, fire and fury: Diplomats take first steps towards a cybercrime treaty amid widespread condemnation and isolation of Russia.

(United Nations) Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes

(Council of Europe) The Budapest Convention and its Protocols