Meeting of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
9 April 2018, 4:30 pm

Participants

UNODC

• Mirella Dummar Frahi, Civil Society Team Leader
• Regina Rohrbach, Drug Control and Crime Prevention Officer
• Lulua Asaad, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer
• Billy Batware, Civil Society Team
• Fay Al-Hakim, Civil Society Team

CSO Representatives

• Kaija Hausmann, Doctor Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)
• Eleanor Hauer-Rona, International Council of Women
• Wolfgang Englemaier, NGO Committee on the Family
• Jolanta Redo, Asia Crime Prevention Foundation
• Vanessa Fernandes, Portuguese Permeant Mission
• Tobias Krachler, Dominicans for Justice and Peace
• Max Edelbacher, Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)
• Michael Platzer, Co-Chair NGO Alliance on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, ACUNS
• Herta Kaschitz, African Action on AIDS (AAA)
• Ingeborp Geyes, Zonta International
• Birgid Korner, Association for Advancement of Global Understanding
• Karen Judd Smith, Co-Chair NGO Alliance on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, ICRD

Key issues discussed

Updates regarding the 27th Crime Commission (Regina):

• Theme of the 27th session of the CCPCJ: “Criminal justice responses to prevent and counter cybercrime in all its forms, including through the strengthening of cooperation at the national and international levels”
• Technical information about programme
  • Date: 14-18 May, 2018
  • Friday, 11 May 2018: informal pre-session consultations – synopsis of resolutions and final preparations for the Commission
  • Preliminary agenda of the Commission – informs participants of the day-to-day programme
  • Deadline for submission of resolutions is 16 April (all resolutions will then be translated into all official languages before being posted on CCPCJ website)
  • NGOs can send 5 participants along with the head of the organization
    • Registration: through e-mail (to [email protected]) no later than 10 May – NGO must be put on an official letterhead including personal details of the delegates (name, title or function, workplace, fax and telephone numbers and individual email address)

• The PNI workshop will take place on Monday, 14 May 2018 from 15:00

• The bureau of the Commission
  • Chair: H.E. Ambassador Lotfi Bouchaara of Morocco (Group of African States)
  • Vice-Chairperson: H.E. Ambassador Alena Kupchyna of Belarus (Group of Eastern European States) (tbc)
  • Vice-Chairperson: H.E. Ambassador Armin Andereya Latorre of Chile (Group of Latin American and Caribbean States) (tbc) 
  • Vice-Chairperson: H.E. Ambassador Helen Eduard of Sweden (Group of Western European and other States)
  • Rapporteur: Mr. Jawad Ali of Pakistan (Group of Asia-Pacific States)
• The general debate will follow the opening session
  • NGOs can submit a request to speak for no more than 5 minutes (500 words max)
  • NGO must be in consultative status with ECOSOC
  • If representative speaks on behalf of NGO, he/she must be a member of the said NGO
  • Longer statements (i.e. more than 5 minutes/500 words) can instead be published on the CCPCJ website
  • If NGOs want a meeting with the Executive Director and his senior management or the Chair of the Commission they must let CST and SGB know as soon as possible (Michael Platzer will submit the request letters).
• Approximately 85 side events are planned
  • Mirella suggested to merge some of the side events organized by NGOs as some groups requested time slots and then not do not appear

Updates regarding the 14th Crime Congress (Lulua):

• The Commission has approved, at its twenty-sixth session, the overall theme, agenda items and workshop topics of the 14th Congress.
• Exact location/date/time for the Regional Preparatory Meetings has not been decided.
• The Secretariat has prepared a Discussion Guide, pursuant to GA Resolution 72/196 (adopted December 2017). The guide will be made available as a CRP in all UN official languages to the Commission, at its twenty-seventh session, for its review.
• The Congress resolution will be tabled by the host country of the 14th Congress (Japan)
• Gary Hill is in charge of planning the ancillary meetings for NGOs at the 14th Congress.
• Karen inquired on when the 2020 Congress website was going to be set up
  • Usually one will be set up by the host country, and one by the UN.

Updates regarding the 9th session of COP/UNTOC (Mirella):

• Date and place: 15-19 October 2018, Vienna
• NGOs allowed to participate as observers (with or without ECOSOC status) in accordance with Rule 17 of the rules of procedure
• Invitations to express interest in participating were sent out by the CST on 9 April
  • Deadline for receiving applications is 2 May (to process application for approval)
  • NGOs with ECOSOC status should send their applications to the Secretariat directly ([email protected]) while other relevant NGOs without ECOSOC statues should send their applications to the CST ([email protected])
• Information will be available on UNODC social media platforms
• More information can be found on the COP/UNTOC website

Information and updates from Members of the Alliance

• Karen Judd Smith presented the SOLVE2018
  • A project that draws on innovative concepts and ideas from other spheres to create focused outcomes; highlights the importance of dealing with issues in a timely manner
  • The first series of meetings will take place during the week of the 27th session of the CCPCJ
  • About three small sprint teams will be formed (5 or 6 people), composed of: someone from UNODC, someone from the diplomatic sphere, someone from the academic sphere, someone with tech expertise
    • Three areas of focus: Cybercrime, countering wildlife crime, countering violent extremism
    • If groups wish to work on different topics, they must contact Karen and attend the preparation session on 13 May
  • Provide teams with a room to work on developing strategic in short periods of time
  • Outcome of their work will be presented during a Friday (May 18) side event (and will be filmed)
  • A report will also be produced within a month on the results

• Michael Platzer suggested NGOs can attend a 2019 American Society of Criminology
  • The meeting is scheduled for November 13 – 16, 2019 in San Francisco, where the UN Charter was finalised and ratified, to honour the Human Rights Declaration as a potential stepping stone for the Congress, under the topic “Back to the Future.”
• Maxmilian Edelbacher (ACUNS) suggested two events:
  • A meeting taking place in Prague from 11-13 April, 2018
    Discussing European Neighbourhood Support Group to assist law enforcement in mitigating crimes (which is on the rise in most of Europe)
  • An International Police Executive Symposium (IPES) meeting taking place from 19-24 August, 2018 in Vienna
    Various topics including: cybercrime, police performance, control of corruption, intelligence sharing
  • Karen asked for more information to post on the Alliance website