The formal process at the United Nations to negotiate a global cybercrime convention began in 2022. States and multistakeholders are requested to submit substantive inputs ahead of each convening. On this page, you can find GI-TOC’s submissions on the topics for the second and third convenings of the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC).  

The initial meeting from 28 February to 11 March 2022 revealed varying expectations and positions among members states as they set out their opening positions. The AHC then held its first multi-stakeholder intersessional on 24–25 March. ‘Multi-stakeholder’ (i.e. private sector, civil society, academia) contributions are vital to ensuring a comprehensive negotiation process informed by a broad spectrum of expert opinion. This again showed a range of positions among participants. Both meetings revealed that states and multi-stakeholder participants were just warming up to this process, exploring the purpose and parameters of the proposed instrument.

From 30 May to 10 June, the second AHC meeting took place in Vienna. As they started exploring the issues in more detail, governments differed widely on what crimes to cover under the convention and how to define them, but they were generally eager to include measures to address a wide array of crimes committed using computer systems under provisions covering procedural measures and law enforcement.

In the first guidance note, we address General Provisions, Provisions on Criminalization, Procedural Measures and Law Enforcement, and offer ideas for consideration when drafting language for this treaty. The first contribution focuses solely on the topics for which treaty text must be submitted by states by 8 April 2022.

In the second guidance note, we address the second set of issues: International Cooperation, Technical Assistance, Preventive Measures, Mechanism of Implementation, Final Provisions and Preamble, which will be debated during the August–September meeting.