Short Article

18-10-2023 | 17:22 PM

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crimes (UNTOC)

The Minister of State for Home Affairs attended a two-day conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crimes (UNTOC) at Palermo in Italy.

Key Highlights:

• The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 and entered into force in 2003.
• It is also known as the Palermo Convention since it was adopted in Palermo in Italy.
• The Convention is the first comprehensive and global legally binding instrument to fight transnational organized crime.
• States that have ratified UNTOC commit themselves to taking a series of measures to prevent and control transnational organized crime including (i) the criminalizing of the participation in an organized criminal group, of money laundering, related corruption and obstruction of justice and (ii) the adoption of frameworks for extradition, mutual legal assistance and international cooperation.
• The Convention is further supplemented by three Protocols which target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime: 1) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children; the 2) Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and 3) Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition.
• In 2011, Government of India ratified the UNTOC and its three protocols.
• Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the nodal agency for all dealings with UNTOC.