Doha: The Western Asia regional preparatory meeting for the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice begins in Doha today.
The congress is due in Qatar from April 12 to 19.
Qatar attended a preparatory meeting in Bangkok on January 22-24 where topics for the congress were discussed.
A workshop by Thailand’s Justice Institute, attended by Qatar, discussed developments and lessons learned from the previous congresses and reviewed the Thai experience in hosting the 11th congress in 2005 and Qatar’s preparations for the 13th congress.
The theme, agenda and topics for workshops of the 13th congress were determined by the UN General Assembly in its resolution 67/184. The Assembly also advanced preparations for the 13th congress through its resolutions 65/230 and 66/179.
The theme of the 13th congress is ‘Integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider UN agenda to address social and economic challenges, promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and public participation’.
The agenda includes successes and challenges in implementing comprehensive crime prevention and criminal justice policies and strategies to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and support sustainable development; international and regional cooperation to combat transnational organised crime; comprehensive and balanced approaches to prevent and respond to emerging forms of transnational crime; and national approaches to public participation in strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice. This year four regional preparatory meetings will be held in Latin America and the Caribbean, West Asia, Asia and the Pacific, and Africa.
Participants are expected to examine issues to be discussed at the 13th congress and make recommendations.
The discussion guide for regional preparatory meetings for the 13th congress was reviewed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and is being finalised, taking into account recommendations of the commission and feedback from member states.
The 12th congress marked the 55th anniversary of the UN congresses on crime prevention and criminal justice.
It focused on children, youth and crime; smuggling of migrants; trafficking in persons; money-laundering; and cybercrime.
It offered an opportunity to stimulate discussion and proposals for action, including establishing the criminal justice system as a central pillar in the rule-of-law architecture; highlighting the role of the system in development; and emphasising the need for a holistic approach to criminal justice system reform to strengthen the capacity of the system in dealing with crime.
The congress has been held every five years since 1955 and is one of the biggest international event.
Its four regional preparatory meetings provided a platform to discuss issues raised at the 12th congress from a regional perspective. At the regional meetings, participants highlighted problems and concerns, as well as successful experiences and promising approaches to address them.
QNA
