Director-General/Executive Director
Mr. Chair, Ambassador Sramek,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to address you at the opening of the 33rd session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
And I want to extend my congratulations to you Mr. Chair, and to the Bureau, for assuming your responsibilities, and to wish you a successful session.
This session of the CCPCJ comes during a time of immense challenges for justice systems around the globe.
And even with the negative impact of the liquidity crisis on this session of the Commission, we must make the most of it.
Our world is in the grip of poly-crises, leaving people more vulnerable to the cycle of crime as victims and as perpetrators.
And organized crime is taking advantage of rule of law gaps, political divisions, and instability to run rampant, sometimes overlapping with conflict and terrorism.
Criminal models are evolving, and different forms of trafficking are converging in a nexus of strife and exploitation that spans the globe, from North to South and across continents.
Violence and homicide rates in many countries have surged, fueled by organized crime.
Corruption is enabling criminality and draining resources, while financial crimes sustain illicit markets.
And while new technologies present opportunities to improve access to justice, they are also being leveraged for criminal purposes.
Meanwhile, prisons are too often overcrowded and have even become strongholds for criminal or terrorist groups in some countries.
In the face of these challenges, we need transparent, efficient, inclusive, and innovative justice institutions in every part of the world.
To provide equal access to justice for all and ensure that prisons are humane places for rehabilitation.
And to uphold the rule of law and safeguard sustainable development prospects.
Excellencies,
Responding to the obstacles facing justice today is a challenge that no country can meet alone.
International cooperation is key.
At the normative level, working together is needed to develop and implement common frameworks, from the UN Conventions against Organized Crime and Corruption and other legal instruments, to the international norms and standards for crime prevention and criminal justice, to the ongoing development of model strategies on reducing reoffending.
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.
Regional platforms such as the Mekong Memorandum of Understanding and the Sahel Judicial Platform in Criminal Matters are very useful in this regard, as are strong bilateral arrangements.
Global cooperation is also a vehicle for sharing best practices and experiences between Member States, for more effective responses and capacity-building.
Last week I was in Venice attending the G7 Ministers of Justice meeting, which discussed the threat of transnational organized crime, particularly drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling.
I believe that groupings like the G7, G20, and G77 are valuable platforms. They bring together countries that share common challenges, and enhancing cooperation within and between is very useful.
Your thematic discussion at this session will focus on international cooperation in criminal matters, and I hope that it will help you advance joint action, including through this Commission.
The CCPCJ is where you come together to craft global standards and policies, build and reinforce partnerships and networks, and close gaps of implementation and capacities.
It is also a bridge to engage with civil society, academia, and other stakeholders, all of whom have a critical and growing role in finding sustainable solutions to evolving crime problems.
Distinguished delegates,
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime is committed to working with all of you to advance crime prevention and criminal justice.
In 2023, we supported more than 60 countries in strengthening equal access to justice and legal aid, preventing crime and violence, addressing the justice needs of women and children, and strengthening prison reform, reaching more than 3,200 practitioners.
We also continued to engage young people to build their resilience to crime and violence and to benefit from their contributions to crime prevention.
Through initiatives like Line Up Live Up and STRIVE Juvenile, as well as the new Generation Justice Initiative aiming to include youth in intergovernmental processes, we aim to keep young people front and centre.
Partnering with the Office of the Special Representative for Violence against Children, we launched a Strategy to End Violence against Children.
And we joined efforts with the UN Department of Peace Operations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop a new UN Manual on Investigative Interviewing for Criminal Investigation, the first UN Manual on this topic.
UNODC has also been working to step up responses to specific challenges and threats.
As human trafficking and migrant smuggling risks expand, we have launched a new consolidated programme to address these crimes.
The programme places a heavier emphasis on links with other forms of organized crime, child trafficking, and South-South cooperation, as well as on supporting victims of trafficking and amplifying their voices.
To keep up with developments in cybercrime, we are supporting countries to break new ground, from developing capacities on digital forensic analysis in Latin America, to providing specialized software and training in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
To stem illicit firearm flows, we are facilitating cross-border cooperation.
Last year our collaboration with INTERPOL, European Union, and partner countries helped seize more than 9,000 firearms and 300,000 rounds of ammunition in West Africa and Latin America.
And to adapt to shifting threats, we are stepping up our support against terrorism.
In Mozambique, for example, we helped the country open its first-ever criminal case on terrorist financing; in Iraq we assisted over 100 victims of terrorism; in South Asia our support on electronic evidence enabled successful prosecutions in terrorism cases.
We also continue to produce research and analysis to inform responses, and today we are launching the 3rd World Wildlife Crime Report, shedding light on a vast criminal industry with far-reaching harms.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This 33rd session of the CCPCJ is an opportunity to foster momentum for important milestones to come.
In September, Member States will convene at the Summit of the Future to revitalize multilateralism and harness new opportunities to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be important to keep issues of justice and the rule of law on the agenda.
In October, the 12th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime will convene here in Vienna, at a time when organized crime is a growing global priority.
And next year will be the final year in our preparations for the 15th Crime Congress, to take place in April 2026 in the United Arab Emirates.
You have already agreed an ambitious agenda for the Crime Congress, and at this session, you will discuss important details for the organization and preparation of the Congress.
Your deliberations, decisions, and resolutions this week can signal shared commitment and underline key priorities, paving the way for stronger collective action against crime and towards justice.
Thank you, and I wish you a successful session.