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Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes
Meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee
Sessions
- Organizational session, New York, 10-12 May 2021
- Session on organizational matters, New York, 24 February 2022
- First session, New York, 28 February-11 March 2022
- Second session, Vienna, 30 May-10 June 2022
- Third session, New York, 29 August-9 September 2022
- Fourth session, Vienna, 9-20 January 2023
- Fifth session, Vienna, 11-21 April 2023
- Sixth session, New York, 21 August-1 September 2023
- Concluding session, New York, 29 January-9 February 2024
- Reconvened concluding session, New York, 29 July-9 August 2024
- Session to prepare the draft text of the rules of procedure for the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Cybercrime, Vienna, 26-30 January 2026
Intersessional consultations
- First intersessional consultation, Vienna, 24 and 25 March 2022
- Second intersessional consultation, Vienna, 13 and 14 June 2022
- Third intersessional consultation, Vienna 3 and 4 November 2022
- Fourth intersessional consultation, Vienna, 6 and 7 March 2023
- Fifth intersessional consultation, Vienna, 20 and 21 June 2023
Useful documents
- General Assembly resolution 79/243
- General Assembly resolution 75/282
- General Assembly resolution 74/247
- Rules of procedure of the General Assembly
- Modalities of the participation of multi-stakeholders
- List of other relevant organizations, which were approved to participate in the Ad Hoc Committee
- United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes
Other background information
The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes
The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 24 December 2024 in New York by resolution 79/243. The Convention is the first comprehensive global treaty on this matter, which provides States with a range of measures to be undertaken to prevent and combat cybercrime. It also aims to strengthen international cooperation in sharing electronic evidence for serious crimes. For more information on the Convention, please see here.
About the Ad Hoc Committee
Through its resolution 74/247, the General Assembly decided to establish an open-ended ad hoc intergovernmental committee of experts, representative of all regions, to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, taking into full consideration existing international instruments and efforts at the national, regional and international levels on combating the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, in particular the work and outcomes of the open-ended intergovernmental Expert Group to Conduct a Comprehensive Study on Cybercrime.
Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 74/247, the Ad Hoc Committee convened a three-day organizational session in May 2021, in New York, in order to agree on an outline and modalities for its further activities, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session for its consideration and approval. The organizational session was originally scheduled to take place in August 2020 but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly decided through its decision 74/567 of 14 August 2020 and its decision 75/555 of 15 January 2021 to postpone the organizational session of the Ad Hoc Committee to 10-12 May 2021.
On 26 May 2021, the General Assembly adopted resolution 75/282, entitled "Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes."
In this resolution, the General Assembly decided, inter alia, that the Ad Hoc Committee shall convene at least six sessions, of 10 days each, to commence in January 2022, a concluding session in New York, and conclude its work in order to provide a draft convention to the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session; it further decided that the Committee shall hold the first, third and sixth negotiating sessions in New York and the second, fourth and fifth sessions in Vienna, and shall be guided by the rules of procedure of the General Assembly.
In line with decision 76/552 of the General Assembly, the Ad Hoc Committee held a one-day meeting on organizational matters on 24 February 2022, and its first session from 28 February to 11 March 2022.
The Ad Hoc Committee approved the road map and mode of work for the Committee at its first session, held from 28 February to 11 March 2022. The road map and mode of work for the Ad Hoc Committee is contained in Annex II to document A/AC.291/7. Accordingly, the Ad Hoc Committee held six negotiating sessions and a concluding session as well as five intersessional consultations.
A concluding session was held in New York from 29 January to 9 February 2024. In that session, the Ad Hoc Committee decided to suspend its work and recommended to the General Assembly that a reconvened concluding session be held at a later date to allow the Committee to finalize its work.
In accordance with General Assembly decision 78/549, the reconvened concluding session was held in New York from 29 July to 9 August 2024. In this session, the Committee approved a draft General Assembly resolution to which the approved draft text of the Convention (A/78/986- A/AC.291/28) was annexed, for adoption by the General Assembly. It also considered interpretative notes on certain articles of the draft Convention and agreed to include them in the report of the session as an annex.
On 24 December 2024, the General Assembly adopted by consensus resolution 79/243, containing the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes.
In accordance with paragraph 6 of resolution 79/243, the Ad Hoc Committee will reconvene to negotiate the draft text of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention, to be submitted to the Conference for consideration at its first session. This session will be held from 26 to 30 January 2026.
Additionally, the Ad Hoc Committee was mandated as per paragraph 5 of resolution 79/243 to continue its work with a view to negotiating a draft protocol supplementary to the Convention, addressing, inter alia, additional criminal offences as appropriate. For that purpose, it will hold two sessions of 10 days, the first in Vienna two years after adoption of the Convention, and the second in New York in the following calendar year. The outcome will be submitted to the Conference of the States Parties for consideration and further action.
A Frequently Asked Questions document with information on the process of elaboration of an international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes is available here (status: 29 May 2025).
Officers of the Ad Hoc Committee
Currently vacant positions are expected to be filled by the Ad Hoc Committee at its next session.
|
Position |
Group |
Name and Country |
|
Chair |
|
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
African Group |
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
African Group |
Mr. Terlumun George-Maria Tyendezwa (Nigeria) |
|
Vice-Chair |
Asia-Pacific Group |
Mr. Zhen SHANG (China) |
|
Vice-Chair |
Asia-Pacific Group |
Mr. WARISAWA Koichi (Japan) |
|
Vice-Chair |
Eastern-European Group |
Mr. Markko Künnapu (Estonia) |
|
Vice-Chair |
Eastern-European Group |
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
Eastern-European Group |
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
GRULAC |
H.E. Mr. Claudio Peguero Castillo (Dominican Republic) |
|
Vice-Chair |
GRULAC |
H.E. Ms. Sabra Amari Murillo Centeno (Nicaragua) |
|
Vice-Chair |
GRULAC |
Mr. Eric do Val Lacerda Sogocio (Brazil) |
|
Vice-Chair |
WEOG |
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
WEOG |
Vacant |
|
Vice-Chair |
WEOG |
Vacant |
|
Rapporteur |
Asia-Pacific Group |
Information for stakeholders
Interested global and regional intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council are invited to participate in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee.
Other interested relevant non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions and private sector organizations (as per paragraph 9 of General Assembly resolution 75/282), which were approved by the Ad Hoc Committee are also invited to participate in the sessions. You can access the list of other relevant organizations here. The decision of the Committee including the list of organizations is contained in Annex I to document A/AC.291/6.
Please find general information about the participation of multi-stakeholders here. For specific information related to the meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee please visit the dedicated page for each event.
Contact the secretariat of the Ad Hoc Committee
UNODC, through the Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch, Division for Treaty Affairs, serves as secretariat for the Ad Hoc Committee and can be contacted at cybercrimeahc@un.org.
