Police of the XXIst century : Strengthening the
protection of citizens’ rights and new international threats against security
2nd High-level meeting of the Ministries of Interior
22-23 June 2000, Bucharest (Romania)
Conclusions
Presented by Mr. Constantin DUDU IONESCU, Minister of the Interior of Romania
1. Considering that the core objectives of the Council of Europe are to
promote pluralist democracy, the Rule of Law and the protection of fundamental
rights and freedoms throughout Europe ;
2. Recalling the considerable work carried out by the Council of Europe
within the field of crime problems ;
3. Recalling the Final Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of
the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 10-11 October 1997), which gave high priority
to the security of citizens and to the fight against organised crime;
4. Recalling the Joint action at the European Union of 1 December 1998 on the
definition of organised crime;
5. Concerned by the conflict situations in Europe as these provide additional
opportunities for further development of criminal activities;
6. Aware of the international dimension of activities of organised criminal
groups which know no borders and the need for police services/forces to have
efficient instruments at their disposal to overcome their difficulties in
cross-border co-operation;
7. Bearing in mind the conclusions of the 12th Criminological Colloquium on
police powers and accountability in a democratic society (Strasbourg, 24-26
November 1999) ;
8. Recalling the conclusions adopted at the first High-Level meeting between
Ministries of the Interior/responsible for the police (Strasbourg, 5-6 November
1998), which emphasised the gravity of the crime situation in Europe and aware
of the progress made since in the combat against it ;
9. We, Ministers, Secretaries of State and other authorities responsible for
police questions, note that matters concerning security of citizens have become
a focal point of Council of Europe member States and that tools and powers for
police efficiency must be well-balanced with the protection of individuals’
rights against abusive methods;
10. We welcome the Council of Europe involvement in the field of “home
affairs” as a complement to its well-established activities within the field of
“justice”. Consequently, we strongly support the setting up of a “Council for
police matters”, as a consultative body under the European Committee on Crime
Problems (CDPC). This would contribute to a closer co-operation between
Ministries of Justice and Interior, prosecution, police, internal security
services and their subordinate structures;
11. We recall that the police should be an integral part of society and that
the efficiency of the police is dependent on the confidence and support by the
public. The police should be fully accountable to the society they serve. In
this respect, we express the firm wish that the work underway within the
Committee of Experts on Police Ethics and Problems of Policing (PC-PO) will be
finalised shortly to enable a swift adoption of the “European Code of Police
Ethics”. This text will provide a basic general framework for the functioning of
the police in a democratic society. We support that further instruments be
developed on issues highlighted in the draft European Code of Police Ethics;
12. We regard crime prevention as an important task of the police and that a
wide society involvement is crucial in this respect. We therefore support the
work of the new Committee of Experts on Partnership in Crime Prevention (PC-PA),
which will focus on best practice in crime prevention in Europe and liaise with
the Project on “Urban insecurity”;
13. As a complement to its intergovernmental activities, we emphasise the
importance of the Council of Europe Programme of Activities for the Development
and Consolidation of Democratic Stability (ADACS) as well as the Joint
Programmes between the Council of Europe and the European Commission. The
Project “Police in a State Governed by the Rule of Law” should continue to focus
on crime prevention, ethics, training and reform of the police. We would welcome
a readiness by the Council of Europe to co-operate in the drafting of national
codes of ethics of the police;
14. We support the efforts by the Council of Europe to promote human rights
awareness within the police forces/services in Europe;
15. We are aware that the task attributed to polices services/forces is both
difficult and essential: safeguarding the security of citizens and institutions
with respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law. To that
end important powers and responsibilities are given to the police. The exercise
of such powers must be confined within precise limits and requires efficient
controls to prevent all risks of arbitrariness. We are therefore convinced that
the persons who exercise police powers must be selected with great care and
should receive appropriate training – both at the time of recruitment and all
along their careers- to enable them to fulfil their difficult tasks;
16. We appreciate the assistance provided by the Council of Europe in the
field of police training, covering a wide range of issues such as police ethics,
reform and organisation, strengthening of democratic values, preparation of
curricula, juvenile delinquency and crime prevention. We agree that some
universally applicable values and principles of policing exist, which should
form the basis of police training. Furthermore, the lessons and experience from
the activities carried out in the field of training should be wider disseminated
through better use of information technology. We therefore call for the Council
of Europe to facilitate the exchange of information and expertise on matters of
interest for the police;
17. The rapid development of new communication technologies and their use for
criminal activities has become a serious problem, which is difficult to settle
through traditional means of international co-operation. We note with
satisfaction that a Convention on Cyber Crime is in an advanced stage of
preparation within the Council of Europe and call for the adoption of this
Convention without delay;
18. We renew our support to anti-corruption measures developed by the Council
of Europe and its efforts in facilitating international co-operation in this
field. We welcome the adoption of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption
(1998), the Civil Law Convention on Corruption (1999) and Recommendation (2000)
10 on Codes of Conduct for Public Official which complement Resolution (97) 24
on the 20 Guiding Principles Against Corruption. We are of the opinion that a
rapid signature and ratification of the Criminal and Civil Law Conventions
should be viewed as a priority to allow the entering into force of these two
important instruments. We also call for a rapid implementation of the above
Recommendation (2000) 10;
19. We consider it essential to join the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO), which will monitor the implementation of Council of Europe
anti-corruption standards through a process of mutual evaluation and peer
pressure. We note with satisfaction that GRECO recently decided to focus during
the first round of supervision on the organisation, means powers and functioning
of the authorities in charge of preventing, investigating, prosecuting and
adjudicating corruption offences. We call on States that are not yet members of
GRECO to join this agreement as soon as possible;
20. We give our full support to new initiatives launched within the framework
of the Multidisciplinary Group on Corruption (GMC) relating to the prevention of
corruption in the financing of political parties and to corruption of
arbitrators;
21. We call for a rapid adoption by the Council of Europe of the draft
Recommendation on Guiding Principles Against Organised Crime;
22. We find it useful that the Council of Europe continues to gather
information on organised crime in Europe according to the mandate of the Group
of Specialists on Criminal Law and Criminological Aspects of Organised Crime (PC-S-CO).
The issuing of annual reports on the organised crime situation in Europe and
best practice surveys on measures against organised crime will contribute to our
efforts against such forms of criminality;
23. We confirm the importance of the work of the Select Committee of Experts
on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (PC-R-EV), in particular as
concerns the recommendations made to law enforcement authorities in order to
improve national anti-money laundering systems. We also request that this
evaluation mechanism be extended when its first evaluation round finishes at the
end of 2000;
24. We consider that the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search,
Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime should be reinforced with
new provisions to facilitate and speed up investigations and confiscation of
crime proceeds at international level, find common responses to the abuse of
offshore centers for criminal purposes, lift bank secrecy in criminal
investigations and share confiscated assets;
25. We welcome the activities developed under the Joint Programme between
European Commission and the Council of Europe, “Octopus”, which have provided a
reinforced co-operation in the fight against corruption and organised crime,
between the countries of central and eastern Europe and other Council of Europe
member States. We request that this programme be continued to allow for the
effective and concrete implementation of the recommendations established within
the framework of “Octopus II”, thus contributing to the preparation of candidate
States to accession to the European Union;
26. We recall that conflicts in Europe are often followed by massive criminal
activities, including corruption, organised crime and money laundering. With a
view to counteract these problems, we welcome the role of the Stability Pact for
Southeast Europe as a catalyst, which mobilises and amplifies the efforts of the
international community to make this region of Europe more secure and stable. We
encourage the Council of Europe to pursue the implementation of its Programme
Action against corruption and organised crime in Southeastern Europe (PACO),
which fits perfectly in the Stability Pact initiatives against corruption (SPAI)
and organised crime (SPOC). We encourage countries to participate in this
programme, to co-operate with the Regional Center for combating transborder
crime, located in Bucarest, and to contribute to the “Task forces” dealing with
sensitive matters such as trafficking in human beings, drugs and stolen vehicles;
27. The enhancement of international police co-operation has been a key issue
throughout our meeting. As international co-operation in police matters becomes
more and more operational, there is a need to facilitate it by laying down sound
legal basis for that purpose. We therefore support the idea of exploring the
possibility of drawing up European conventions particularly on police co-operation
as complements to the existing Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal
Matters. Such instruments should for instance address cross border co-operation
between the police, the use of investigative techniques and measures, evidence
by witnesses and their protection, information sharing and co-operation against
transborder organised crime;
28. We have been deeply shocked and affected by the tragic deaths of fifty-eight
foreign nationals arriving in the United Kingdom. We condemn severely the
criminal acts committed by organised groups, which traffic with human beings. We
consider that the Council of Europe should, within its field of competence,
contribute to the fight against the scourge of such trafficking, which grossly
violates the most essential rights of the human being;
29. We express our warmest gratitude to the President and the Government of
Romania for their hospitality and perfect organisation of this meeting.