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

Convention at a glance

The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 24 December 2024 in New York. 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.

Full text of the Convention

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Chapters of the Convention

The Convention’s nine chapters provide a comprehensive approach to prevent and combat the global problem of cybercrime while including human rights safeguards. The Convention resolves technical and legal challenges by adjusting traditional means and methods of criminal investigations to the information and communication technology environment and by strengthening international cooperation. For more information visit the summary of the chapters of the Convention.

Status of the Convention, from adoption to the Conference of the States Parties

The Convention will be open for signature at a signing ceremony to be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in 2025 and thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York until 31 December 2026. The Convention will enter into force after the deposit of the fortieth ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Key events:

• Signing Ceremony (dates TBC – likely mid-2025): Consistent with past precedent for UN criminal justice treaties, and as decided by the General Assembly, Viet Nam will host a formal signing ceremony to bring attention to the new treaty and encourage high level officials from States to join the ceremony and sign the treaty on behalf of their State. Further information will be made available as soon as feasible.
• Ratification and Accession by States (2025-onward): Following signature of the new treaty, States will go through their internal domestic processes to ratify the treaty, thus formally becoming States parties. This may also be done through accession, acceptance or approval.
• Entry into Force: The treaty will enter into force  after forty States have become Parties.
• Conference of the States Parties: After entry into force, a Conference of the States Parties will convene periodically to improve the capacity of and cooperation between States Parties to achieve the objectives of the Convention and to promote and review its implementation.

The latest status of the treaty will be available in the United Nations Treaty Collection.

Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes

The General Assembly established the Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, which approved a draft convention in August 2024. The Ad Hoc Committee is further mandated by the General Assembly to hold sessions to prepare the draft rules of procedure for the Conference of the States Parties, and to negotiate a draft protocol supplementary to the Convention, addressing, inter alia, additional criminal offences as required. Read more on the webpages of the Ad Hoc Committee.

Support by UNODC

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime serves as the secretariat to the Ad Hoc Committee and to the future Conference of the States Parties.

UNODC also supports Member States in the process of ratification and implementation of the Convention and through its Global Programme on Cybercrime provides technical assistance and training to States to build the capacity of national authorities to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute cybercrime.

Contacts

Email:

Secretariat on matters related to the Convention and the Ad Hoc Committee: cybercrimeconvention@un.org

UNODC Global Programme on Cybercrime: undoc-gpc@un.org 

Address:

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Vienna International Centre
P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria