Recent major events

 

Legal Workshop for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on the criminal law aspects of countering maritime terrorism in the light of relevant universal instruments, held in Vienna, Austria, 14-16 July 2008.

Participating countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bahrain, Belize, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mauritius, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines as observers.

Furthermore, CTED, the 1540 Committee, IMO, OAS/CICTE, the Indian Ocean Commission, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and national legal experts from Fiji, France, South Africa and the US attended the workshop.

 

Second Ministerial Conference for the Central American countries on the implementation of the universal instruments against terrorism and on international cooperation against terrorism, organized in cooperation with the OAS/CICTE, Panama City, Panama, 26-29 May 2008. Participating countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

As a follow-up activity to the work started during the First Ministerial Conference, held in Panama in April 2006, this conference was jointly organized by UNODC and the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism of the Organization of American States (OAS/CICTE), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama. The participating countries were: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic. National delegations were composed by the Ministers of Justice, Home Affairs or Security, the Attorneys-General, the National contact points of CICTE, representatives of parliamentary commissions and the Ministry in charge of the preparation of relevant legislative proposals.

The conference was held in two parts. During the first two days, international experts from UNODC, CICTE, CTED, the 1540 Committee, EUROJUST, INTERPOL, OHCHR, the Guardia di Finanza of Italy, Audiencia Nacional of Spain and the Attorney-General of Spain gave presentations on technical aspects related to the topics of the conference. At the ministerial segment, from 27 to 29 May, heads of national delegations made statements about progress made by their countries since the First Ministerial Conference in 2006, and referred to difficulties and challenges encountered. The Ministerial Conference finished with the adoption of the Panama Declaration, in which States reaffirmed their commitment to continue their efforts to ratify and implement the universal instruments against terrorism and the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols as well as to improve mechanisms of cooperation in criminal matters, especially at the regional and sub-regional level. UNODC was requested to provide technical assistance to these ends. 

 

Euro-Mediterranean terrorism workshop in Morocco May 2008 Euro-Mediterranean workshop on the mechanisms of international cooperation in criminal matters pertaining to counter-terrorism, organized in cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco, the Slovenian Euromed Presidency and the European Commission, held in Rabat, Morocco, 5-6 May 2008. Participating countries: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritania, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and Palestine as an observer.

From 5 to 6 May 2008, UNODC's Terrorism Prevention Branch held its first joint activity with the European Commission: the Euro-Mediterranean workshop on the mechanisms of international cooperation in criminal matters pertaining to counter-terrorism, organized in cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco and the Slovenian Euromed Presidency.

The workshop, which was hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco and held in Rabat, was attended by approximately 100 expert practitioners from 26 European and Mediterranean countries as well as 12 international organizations. During the two-day workshop, participants presented their work and views from the national, regional and international perspectives, focusing on practical aspects of international cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism. This provided them with a unique platform to share best practices and learn from each other's experiences, while at the same time enhancing their knowledge and understanding of different judicial systems.

In this regard, participants gave various relevant presentations, including on the universal legal regime against terrorism, the EU legal framework related to counter-terrorism and the work of various regional and international organizations in this field. Furthermore, the role of national legal attachés and the use of different mechanisms and tools in facilitating international cooperation were addressed. The exchange of views and substantive discussions led to the adoption of a set of recommendations at the end of the workshop, including the designation of focal points by each country and promoting the system of national legal attachés or "magistrats de liaision" in order to facilitate international cooperation in criminal matters.

 

Past Major Activities

  • Fifth Conference of the Ministers of Justice of Francophone African countries for the implementation of the universal instruments against terrorism , organized in cooperation with the Government of Morocco and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), held in Rabat, Morocco, 12-16 May 2008. Participating countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo, and Tunisia.
  • IGAD Ministers of Justice Meeting on Strengthening the Counter-Terrorism Legal Regimes of IGAD Member States, organized in partnership with ICPAT, held in Kampala, Uganda on 20 - 21 September 2007. Participating countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda.
  • Fourth Conference of the Ministers of Justice of Francophone African countries for the implementation of the universal instruments against terrorism, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 20-22 March 2007. Participating countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Tunisia.
  • Ministerial Conference for Caribbean countries on International Cooperation in the fight against Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime, held in the Dominican Republic on 19-22 March 2007. Participating countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and, Trinidad and Tobago.