Concerned about COVID‑19 Pandemic Restrictions, General Assembly Postpones Session of Drafting Committee for Treaty to Combat Online Crimes

The General Assembly decided on 14 August to postpone a meeting of a committee tasked with drafting a global treaty to combat online crimes, noting with concern current COVID‑19 pandemic restrictions.

Using its silent procedure to take action during the pandemic, the Assembly adopted decision 74/567 “Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes” (document A/74/L.84).  In doing so, it decided to postpone the Ad Hoc Committee’s organizational session, which was scheduled to be held in August 2020, to a date as early as conditions permit, but not later than 1 March 2021.

[Under decision 74/544, “Procedure for taking decisions of the General Assembly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic”, adopted on 27 March 2020, the Assembly President is authorized to circulate, after consultation with the General Committee, its draft decisions to all Member States under a silence procedure of at least 72 hours.  If the silence is not broken, the decision should be considered adopted.  On 15 May 2020, through decision 74/555 (document A/74/L.65), 18 June 2020, through decision 74/558 (document A/74/L.72), and again on 21 July 2020, through decision 74/558 (document A/74/L.76), the silence procedure was extended until the end of June, July and August 2020, respectively.  (See also Press Releases GA/12244, GA/12245, GA/12251 and GA/12257.)

The final version of decisions adopted during the resumed part of the General Assembly’s seventy-fourth session will be contained in the Assembly’s official record (document A/74/49 (Vol. III)) after editorial review.]