Twenty years after it was adopted, the Budapest Convention remains the most relevant international treaty that protects individuals and their rights against crime online. The Council of Europe’s annual conference on cybercrime, which every year brings together cybercrime experts from all over the world, will be held online from 16 to 18 November. It will begin with a special event, organised in co-operation with the Hungarian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers and dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Convention and to the forthcoming Second Additional Protocol on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence.
The Convention has had a global impact. It has helped strengthen and harmonise countries’ legislation on cybercrime, enhance the effectiveness of international co-operation in investigating and prosecuting crimes committed via the Internet, and to foster partnerships between the public and private sectors (see The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime: benefits and impact in practice).
To date, 66 countries have ratified the Convention on Cybercrime, two have signed it and ten have been invited to accede (Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tunisia). More than 140 countries are working with the Council of Europe to reinforce their legislation and capacity to address cybercrime.
The purpose of the forthcoming Second Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention is to provide sharper tools to investigate cybercrime and obtain justice for victims, by ensuring that perpetrators face a substantially greater risk of being held to account. It is expected to be adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 17 November.
When participants gather on 16 November to mark the anniversary of the Convention, they will be addressed by the Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, ministers, attorneys general and other senior officials from around the world.
Press release
Council of Europe marks 20 years of action against cybercrime
Speech by the Secretary General
Podcast with Alexander Seger, Head of Cybercrime (more videos)