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

In this episode we delve into the substantive issues at play in the first negotiation session and in subsequent written submissions by UN Member States, ahead of the next session which starts on 30 May in Vienna. There are major gaps between different camps, and geopolitical pressures and fractures to navigate. We discuss what to expect for the upcoming session and beyond as Member States attempt to find consensus.

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

Guest: Summer Walker, Head of Multilateral Affairs, NY, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

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