Ratification and Legislative Incorporation

UNODC has been entrusted by the General Assembly to provide technical assistance to requesting Member States on the ratification and legislative incorporation of the 18 international legal instruments related to terrorism.

To assist with the incorporation of the provisions of the international legal instruments against terrorism into national legislation, UNODC/TPB, upon request by a Member State, analyzes national counter-terrorism legislation, identifies the legislative gaps and requirements of the requesting country, and provides legislative assistance aimed at harmonizing national legislation with the global legal framework against terrorism. In addition, UNODC/TPB recommends administrative and regulatory changes necessary for the implementation of the national legislation.

Whereas the first 12 of these universal instruments were adopted between 1963 and 1999, little progress had been made until 2001 in their ratification and implementation. When UNODC/TPB launched its ratification assistance activities in January 2003, only 26 countries had ratified all of the universal instruments against terrorism.  Significant progress has been made since then - by the end of 2012, 591 ratifications had been made by countries assisted by the Branch.

However, universal ratification is far from achieved. In addition, even after ratification, long-term sustained efforts are required to achieve effective implementation of the provisions within these instruments. To this end, the Terrorism Prevention Branch is encouraging Member States to avail themselves of the assistance it is able to provide.