Italian participation in the 28th Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili leads the Italian delegation to the 28th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, scheduled in Vienna between 20 and 24 May 2019.
As the principal body of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, the Commission, in its regular session, provides a unique venue for the international community to discuss and develop policies aimed at strengthening cooperation in the fight against crime.
Italy attaches particular importance to the Commission, due to its advanced experience in the fight against organized crime and the wide engagement of civil society in crime prevention.
In her statement, Ambassador Accili highlighted the importance of promoting of international cooperation in criminal matters, within the legal framework of the Merida Convention against corruption, the Palermo Convention against transnational organized crime and the nineteen international legal instruments to counter terrorism. Furthermore, Ambassador Accili emphasized the remarkable – yet still not fully exploited – potential of the Palermo Convention, which also offers a solid legal basis to address emerging forms of crime, such as cyber-crime and the trafficking in cultural properties. In order to relaunch the full implementation of this Convention and the relative Protocols (i.e. on smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and trafficking in firearms), the establishment of the review mechanism – which was decided by the Conference of Parties last October upon an Italian proposal – represents a fundamental development. Ambassador Accili also stated that the response to crime and terrorism must occur in the full respect of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, and must benefit from cooperation with civil society.
On the opening day, Ambassador Accili participated in two side events. The first one, organized by UNODC and UNESCO, was dedicated to strengthening the rule of law through education; the second one, co-organized by Italy and UNODC, focused on tackling human trafficking. On this occasion, Italy officially joined the United Nations Blue Heart Campaign for the Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons. The Blue Heart Campaign, supported by several countries all over the world, seeks to encourage the involvement of institutions in the fight against human trafficking and to raise awareness of the situation of victims, through campaigns of public communication.
In announcing Italy’s decision to join the Campaign, Ambassador Accili recalled the priority given by our country to the fight against this heinous crime, for instance through the contribution of one million Dollars already provided by Italy to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for the victims of trafficking, as well as our commitment to an effective implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Palermo Convention to prevent and suppress Trafficking in persons.