UN, PORTUGAL COOPERATE IN PROMOTING CONVENTIONS AGAINST CRIME, TERRORISM AND CORRUPTION

UN, PORTUGAL COOPERATE IN PROMOTING CONVENTIONS AGAINST CRIME,

TERRORISM AND CORRUPTION

VIENNA, 22 May (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Ministry of Justice of Portugal have signed a new agreement regarding the provision of assistance to Portuguese-speaking countries for the ratification of United Nations conventions and protocols against organized crime and terrorism.

The UNODC’s Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP) has been provided by the Ministry of Justice of Portugal with the translation of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the universal anti-terrorism conventions and protocols.  The Ministry of Justice is also planning to translate and disseminate the new convention against corruption, to be finalized by the end of this year, in Portuguese-speaking countries.

In the past, the Ministry of Justice of Portugal has translated the Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms into Portuguese, to assist in promoting better knowledge of United Nations criminal justice instruments to be applied worldwide by Member States in order to protect human rights and the rule of law.

“Providing the Portuguese-speaking countries, especially those least developed, with the translation of the United Nations conventions against crime, terrorism, and corruption, helps them in the ratification -- and later in the implementation -- of international norms”, Eduardo Vetere, the Director of the CICP, said, following the signing ceremony in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna.

This most recent memorandum will contribute to further promotion of UNODC/CICP work in Portuguese-speaking countries, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Portugal, including advisory services and technical assistance missions.

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