25 May 1984

Meeting 21

Technical co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 36/21 of 9 November 1981, in which the Assembly urged the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development of the United Nations Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme to increase their level of support to programmes of technical assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and to encourage technical co-operation among developing countries,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 35/171 of 15 December 1980, in which the Assembly endorsed the Caracas Declaration annexed thereto, wherein it was stressed that appropriate measures should be taken to strengthen, as necessary, the activities of the competent United Nations organs concerned with crime prevention and the treatment of offenders, especially activities at the regional and subregional levels,

Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1979/20 of 9 May 1979, in which the Council took note, inter alia, of the growing number of countries that expressed a need for interregional and technical advisory services capable of assisting Governments in planning and implementing their crime prevention policies, and Council resolution 1979/21 of 9 May 1979,

Convinced of the crucial importance of international co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice, both among developing countries and between developed and developing countries,

Conscious of the financial and other difficulties encountered by many countries in their efforts to introduce efficient and humane crime prevention policies,

Recognizing the vital role performed by the United Nations regional training and research institutes in effectively supporting various forms and modalities of technical co-operation despite serious financial and budgetary constraints,

Recognizing also the important role of the United Nations Social Defence Research Institute in United Nations efforts to strengthen research in an interregional context,

Aware that the existing interregional and regional institutes are heavily dependent for financial support on the host countries,

Noting that the post of Interregional Adviser in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice was re-established in 1981,

Aware that, since the appointment of an Interregional Adviser in July 1982, Governments of developing countries have requested his advisory services on fifty-six occasions,

1. Takes note of the recommendations concerning regional and international co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice contained in the resolutions adopted by the Asia and Pacific, Latin American, African and Western Asia Regional Preparatory Meetings for the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders;

2. Notes also that the African Regional Preparatory Meeting, in its resolution on subregional, regional and interregional co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice, viewed with great concern the delay in the establishment of an African regional institute on the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders;

3. Emphasizes the usefulness of regional co-operation as fostered by the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders and the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations;

4. Urges the Secretary-General and all the organizations and agencies involved in the establishment of the institute for the African region to take steps to ensure its prompt creation, if possible before the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and also appeals to Governments in that region to co-operate fully and act expeditiously in this respect;

5. Recommends the regional commissions and the regional institutes to increase their co-operation in undertaking joint activities;

6. Requests the organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations to strengthen appropriate arrangements for the support of technical co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice between developed and developing countries and also among developing countries, in the spirit of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries and General Assembly resolutions 35/171 and 36/21 and Economic and Social Council resolutions 1979/20 and 1979/21;

7. Urges the Secretary-General to ensure increased support for the critically needed interregional advisory services in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and to provide additional interregional and regional advisers as quickly as budgetary resources will permit, especially to serve the needs of those regions without regional institutes;

8. Also urges the Secretary-General to find appropriate means to strengthen the financial capacity of the existing interregional and regional institutes;

9. Calls upon Member States in each region, in considering crime prevention and criminal justice in the context of development, to encourage the exchange of data, information and experiences, to engage in joint activities for training and research, to assist in demonstration projects of a bilateral and multilateral nature, to enter into agreements on the provision of human, financial and material resources in support of regional and subregional seminars involving the various modalities of technical co-operation, and to encourage the involvement in such efforts of scientific and professional non-governmental organizations active in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.