24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

Concerted international action against the forms of crime identified in the Milan Plan of Action

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling the Milan Plan of Action, unanimously adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and resolutions 1 on organized crime, 2 on the struggle against illicit drug trafficking, 22 on crime prevention in the context of development, and 23 on criminal acts of terrorist character, also unanimously adopted by the Seventh Congress,

Recalling also section I of Economic and Social Council resolution 1986/10, of 26 May 1986, in which the Secretary-General was urged to accord priority to the development of specific proposals for concerted international action against the forms of crime identified in the Milan Plan of Action,

Recalling further General Assembly resolutions 41/107 of 4 December 1986 and 42/59 of 30 November 1987, in which the Assembly called for priority attention to be accorded to the forms of crime identified in the Milan Plan of Action,

Alarmed by the marked increase in the transnational dimensions of grave forms of crime and by the comparative impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of such criminality,

Noting with dismay the shortcomings of existing international co-operation arrangements and instruments for the prevention of transnational criminality,

Gravely concerned at the growing tendency of some Governments and transnational corporations to facilitate the dumping of toxic nuclear and industrial waste in developing countries,

Deeply preoccupied by the devastating damage to the environment which is the direct outcome of harmful and illicit practices, such as the dumping of toxic waste, the thoughtless depletion of non-renewable resources, the extermination of animal species, the massive use of herbicides and defoliants and the release into the atmosphere of harmful gases and radioactive substances,

Concerned at the sustained pillage of archeological sites and the illicit international trade in objects belonging to the cultural heritage of nations, and the ensuing damage to the national identity of peoples,

Aware of the necessity of revising existing international instruments so as to make them more responsive to the new realities of transnational criminality,

Conscious of the indispensability of international co-operation and concerted action for the effective control of transnational forms of crime,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on proposals for concerted international action against the forms of crime identified in the Milan Plan of Action;

2. Invites Governments, international organizations, concerned non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and other decision-making bodies to examine favourably the recommendations contained in that report, with a view to implementing them, taking into account the social, political and economic characteristics of each country;

3. Urges Governments to examine existing domestic legislation with a view to enacting provisions, including penal provisions, that protect the natural environment, in cases where such legislation is non-existent or insufficiently developed, and that establish adequate compensation for the victims of such practices;

4. Reiterates the need for international co-operation in preventing, combating and monitoring all actions leading to the dumping of toxic nuclear and industrial waste in developing countries, in close co-operation with the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Atomic Energy Agency;

5. Invites Governments to exercise stricter and more effective control over the industrial or other sectors that could be involved in such conduct;

6. Decides that the topics of transnational crimes against the environment and against the cultural patrimony of countries should be considered under item 3 of the provisional agenda for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, 100/ in order to explore the possibilities of formulating comprehensive policies of international co-operation for the prevention of such offences, including the imposition of sanctions;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, in the light of the present resolution, to expand his report on proposals for concerted international action against the forms of crime identified in the Milan Plan of Action, for submission to the Eighth Congress.