24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

Continuation of preparations for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 415 (V) of 1 December 1950, 32/60 of 8 December 1977, 41/107 of 4 December 1986 and 42/59 of 30 November 1987,

Recalling Economic and Social Council resolutions 1986/11 of 21 May 1986, 1987/49 and 1987/53 of 28 May 1987 and 1988/44 of 27 May 1988,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council decision 1988/146 of 27 May 1988, by which the Council took note with appreciation of the offer of the Government of Cuba to act as host to the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders,

Noting that many members of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, at its tenth session, expressed support for the invitation and gratitude to the Government of Cuba for its generous offer,

Bearing in mind the fact that the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council have reaffirmed in numerous resolutions the importance of the United Nations congresses on the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders,

Acknowledging that the United Nations congresses, as global events, have influenced national policies and practices by facilitating the exchange of views and experiences, by mobilizing public opinion and by recommending policy options at the national, regional and international levels, thus making a significant contribution to the promotion of international and technical co-operation in this field,

Emphasizing the importance of undertaking all preparatory activities for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in a timely and concerted manner,

Conscious of the need to increase the relevance and impact of the results of the Eighth Congress through heightened public awareness of those results,

Bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 42/59, in which the Secretary-General was requested to take immediate steps to ensure the successful and cost-effective preparation of the Eighth Congress, including the appropriate scheduling of interregional and regional preparatory meetings and the timely finalization and circulation of the required documentation through the provision of the necessary resources, including temporary assistance,

Aware that the resources so far allocated for the preparation of the Eighth Congress are considerably less than the funds usually provided for the consultants, temporary staff, travel and public information activities for major conferences,

Also aware of the important work to be accomplished by the regional preparatory meetings and by the United Nations Secretariat in preparing the relevant documentation,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General relating to preparations for the Eighth Congress,

1. Takes note with satisfaction of the work so far accomplished by the United Nations Secretariat in the preparation of the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in pursuance of Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/49 and following the directives of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control;

2. Notes with appreciation the interest shown and the support given to the Secretariat in preparation of the Congress by many Governments and non-governmental organizations and the professional and scientific community;

3. Takes note of the Discussion guide for the interregional and regional preparatory meetings for the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, which provides general guidelines for the discussion at interregional meetings of the substantive topics of the Congress, and of the reports of the interregional preparatory meetings;

4. Also takes note of the various documents prepared by the Secretariat related to the substantive items considered by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and requests the Secretary-General to update them for submission to the Eighth Congress under the relevant agenda items;

5. Endorses the recommendations contained in the reports of the interregional preparatory meetings for the Eighth Congress and requests the Secretary-General to transmit those reports to the regional preparatory meetings for the Eighth Congress, to be organized in 1989, with the observations, amendments and specific comments made on the occasion of the tenth session of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, as contained in annex I to the report of the Committee on its tenth session;

6. Recommends that the regional preparatory meetings consider in depth the recommendations of the interregional preparatory meetings and make specific comments on the draft instruments contained in the reports;

7. Approves the documentation for the Congress as contained in annex III to the report of the Committee on its tenth session, pending further review by the Committee at its eleventh session;

8. Decides that item 3 of the provisional agenda for the Congress should serve as an umbrella topic, under which Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations could exchange experiences and examine problems encountered and successes achieved in international co-operation in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice;

9. Recommends that a research workshop on alternatives to imprisonment, consisting of at least two sessions with full conference support services, be held within the framework of item 4 of the provisional agenda for the Congress and that the report adopted be submitted to the committee dealing with that item;

10. Also recommends that work should continue on the development of guidelines for the computerization of the administration of criminal justice and that a workshop for the discussion of national experiences be held within the framework of item 4 of the provisional agenda for the Congress, the report of which should be submitted to the committee dealing with that item;

11. Further recommends that the Eighth Congress finalize the Draft Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules), the Draft Bilateral Model Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the United Nations Draft Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Guidelines of Riyadh), the United Nations Draft Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, the Draft Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, the Draft Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the Draft Model Agreement on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters and the Draft Model Agreement on Transfer of Supervision of Offenders Who Have Been Conditionally Sentenced or Conditionally Released, and make every effort to secure their adoption for the strengthening of regional and international co-operation in the fight against crime;

12. Decides that the Eighth Congress should be held from 27 August to 7 September 1990, with the necessary pre-Congress consultations;

13. Also decides that the theme for the Eighth Congress should be "International co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice for the twenty-first century";

14. Approves the rules of procedure for the United Nations congresses on the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders adopted by the Seventh Congress, on the understanding that the Eighth Congress should make every effort to reach a consensus on all substantive matters;

15. Requests the Secretary-General, in his preparation of the programme budget for the biennium 1990-1991, to allocate the necessary resources for the organization of the Eighth Congress, in accordance with past practice and the existing guidelines for the organization of major United Nations conferences;

16. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue the practice of inviting twenty-five consultants to participate in the congresses at the expense of the Organization so as to ensure that adequate expertise is provided to the Congress by each region for each substantive item of the provisional agenda;

17. Calls on Governments to make preparations for the Eighth Congress by all appropriate means, with a view to formulating national position papers;

18. Urges the regional commissions, regional and interregional institutes in the field of crime prevention and the treatment of offenders, specialized agencies and other entities within the United Nations system, other intergovernmental organizations concerned, and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to become actively involved in the preparations for the Eighth Congress;

19. Invites representatives of the Committee attending the regional preparatory meetings for the Eighth Congress to assist Government representatives in their substantive deliberations on Congress topics and provide adequate follow-up of the recommendations made by the interregional preparatory meetings;

20. Also invites the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, at its eleventh session, to accord priority attention to the preparations for the Eighth Congress and to ensure that all necessary organizational and substantive arrangements are made in good time;

21. Requests the Secretary-General, in his report to the General Assembly, to stress the urgency of providing the necessary additional resources, including temporary assistance and travel for the Secretary-General of the Eighth Congress and additional staff members of the Secretariat, to service the regional preparatory meetings in 1989 and to engage in relevant consultations with Member States so as to enable the Secretariat to undertake, in an effective and timely manner, all the preparatory activities for the Congress;

22. Also requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the information programme related to the Eighth Congress in order to create awareness among experts and the general public of the significance of the work of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.