1. Ambassador Ugljesa Ugi Zvekic
EFFECTIVE PREVENTION and INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: INTEGRATING UNCAC & UNTOC
Ambassador Ugljesa Ugi Zvekic

2. Corruption & Organized Crime
Corruption offers the means to allow illicit markets to operate – by ensuring impunity for criminal actors, facilitating methods of legitimizing illicit gains or ensuring flows of illicit goods through trafficking networks and across borders.
Conversely, the power, influence and wealth accrued through organized crime places criminal actors in a position to influence state officials and shape the wider political economy.

3. TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CORRUPTION
The TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CORRUPTION is not just a mere linguistic play of words (a coined term composed of UNTOC and UNCAC principle concepts) but is becoming the predominant manifestation of corruption and organized crime nexus on the international level.
It threatens the main postulates and tenets of the SDGs across all of the 17 GOALS.

4. CRIME GOVERNANCE
Organized-crime networks and groups effectively establish forms of ‘crime governance’, by which we mean using a set of criminal instruments (violence, threat or corruption) and associated criminal players to exert influence and power.
At a national level, this may result in what has been termed ‘criminalized states’ At the local level, as criminal actors accumulate power and displace legitimate forms of local governance, economic activity and social order, this has dire implications for many communities

5. INTEGRATED CRIME GOVERNANCE RESPONSE
The challenge of CRIME GOVERNANCE requires an integrated response at all levels: Local, National and International
Greater integration and cross-fertilization in the various UN anti- crime (UNTOC & UNCAC) drugs, arms, terrorisam, environment and human rights instruments are URGENTLY needed to promote more effective normative and practical prevention, prosecution and adjudication
More integration between organized crime and corruption requires much more integration in and of the crime governance response

6. INTERNATIONAL NORMATIVE AND POLICY PLATFORMS: UNCAC/UNTOC and SDGs 2030
UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) represent the normative, criminal-justice-based platforms for the prevention of organized crime and corruption.
The developmental platform is represented by Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and in particular 16.4 and with the objectives to ‘significantly reduce all forms of organised crime’ and ‘substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms’ respectively

7. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME PALERMO CONVENTION
In force 2003
Almost universal ratification: 188 countries
3 Protocols
Human Trafficking (170)
Smuggling of Migrants (142)
Firearms (114)

8. Offences established by UNTOC
Convention requires States Parties to have four basic offences:
Participation in an organized criminal group (Art. 5)
Laundering of proceeds of crime (Art. 6)
Corruption (Art. 8)
Obstruction of justice (Art. 23)
Serious crime (4 years of imprisonment)
___________________________________
Protocol offences
The Convention itself establishes these 4 basic offences. States Parties must adopt these offences in their domestic law s if they are not already present, or amend existing offences to conform.
The following principles should be considered:
Domestic crimes may be broader in scope or more severe, as long as all conduct specified by the Convention is made a crime (Art.34(3)). If the full range of conduct is already covered, no amendments are needed.
These offences will often apply in conjunction with other offences in domestic law and/or established by the Protocols, and legislative drafters should ensure consistency with existing laws.
The Convention itself applies to offences only if they are “transnational in nature” and involve an “organized criminal group”, but legislators should not apply the same principle in drafting implementing legislation. This makes the offences narrower and more difficult to enforce (prosecutors would have to prove transnational and organised crime elements) and is not required by the Convention: Art. 34(2) states that domestic crimes adopted pursuant to the Convention should not require elements of transnationality or organised criminal group involvement. The sole exception is the offence of participating in an organised criminal group (Art.5).

9. UNTOC Corruption offences (Art.8)
Mandatory offence:
promise, offer, give, solicit or accept
any undue advantage to/by a public official
to act or refrain from acting
any matter relating to official’s public duties
participation as an accomplice
Optional offences
corrupting foreign or international public servants
other forms of corruption
The language of Article 8 is similar (but not identical) to the offences established by existing international instruments such as:
The Inter-American Convention against Corruption (1996, res.1398)
The OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transnactions DAFFE/IME/BR(97)20
Countries which have implemented these may already be inconformity or require only minor changes to conform
Legislative precedents or advice may also be obtained from countries which have implemented these instruments, the UN Global Prgramme against Corruption, or other international organisations active in the field.
The meaning of “public official” , set out in Art. 8(4), limits the meaning to officials in the country under the laws of which they derive their official status. Thus a domestic offence adopted pursuant to Art.8(1) would only make it a crime to accept or solicit bribes relating to officials of the country which adopted the offence.
The question of bribery involving officials of other countries (“foreign public officials”) and international public servants are dealt with in Art.8(2), which is not mandatory.
The Convention does not deal with private-sector corruption.
Note that while corruption must involve transnationality and organised crime to invoke the cooperation provisions of the Convention, these should not be made elements of the domestic offence (Art.34(2))

10. UNTOC: PREVENTION (Art.31)
Promote best prevention practices and programmes
Endeavour to reduce opportunities for infiltration into lawful markets with proceeds of crime with a focus on:
Law enforcement and private sector cooperation
Integrity standards and procedures in public and private sectors
Professional codes of conduct for lawyers, notaries, tax consultants and accountants
Prevention of misuse of public tenders by organized crime
Prevention of misuse of legal persons by organized crime
Reintegration of offenders
Evaluation of the vulnerability of legal instruments and practices

11. UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION
Merida Convention
In force: 2005
Parties: 183

12. UNCAC CORRUPTION OFFENCES
Mandatory Offences
Bribery of National Public Officials (Art. 15)
Active Bribery of Foreign Public Officials (Art.16, para.1)
Embezzlement, Misappropriation or Other Diversion
of Property (Art. 17)
Laundering of proceeds of crime (Art. 23)
Obstruction of Justice (Art. 25)
Participation in such offences (Art. 27, para. 1)
Optional Offences
Passive Bribery of Foreign Public Official (Art.16)
Trading in Influence (Art. 18)
Abuse of Functions (Art. 19)
Illicit Enrichment (Art. 20)
Bribery in Private Sector (Art. 21)
Embezzlement of Property in Private Sector (Art. 22)
Concealment (Art. 24)
Attempt / preparation of UNCAC offences (Art.27, paras. 2-3)

13. UNCAC:PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION Chapter II
Preventive anti-corruption policies and practices (Article 5)
Preventive anti-corruption bodies (Article 6)
Recruitment, Management and Training of Public Officials ( Article 7)
Conflicts of Interest, Codes of Conduct and Asset Declarations ( Articles 7 and 8)
Public Procurement and Management of Public Finances ( Article 9)
Anti-Corruption Education (Article 13)

14. International Cooperation
Joint Investigations
Asset Recovery
Transfer of Sentenced Persons
Mutual Legal Assistance
Confiscation of proceeds of crime
Extradition 14

15. The Recovery of Assets through International Cooperation15

16. CONFERENCE OF THE STATE PARTIES
Both UNCAC and UNTOC envisage the establishment of the Conference of the State Parties
Similar mandates and review procedure
Held in alternate years (e.g. UNCAC in 2017; UNTOC in 2018)

17. ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY
UN Charter of Human Rights makes the participation of the civil society MANDATORY in the review process: the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
This is not the case neither with UNTOC or UNCAC
Weak position of the civil society in the review process of anti- crime conventions is undermining its normative and practical role in the prevention of organized crime and corruption

18. TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION PREVENTION
Normative structure and criminalization of UNTOC and UNCAC provide strong grounds for more effective practical use of the instruments in the prevention, prosecution, adjudication and international cooperation
As the linkages between organized crime and corruption at both domestic and transnational levels are becoming more complex and frequent,
PREVEVENTION MEASURES
as articulated by the two conventions can, and should, be applied in an integrated and mutually supportive way.

19. TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
International cooperation based on the same principles and instruments, in particular against money laundering and asset recovery, is the potentially most powerful
INTERNATIONAL CRIME GOVERNANCE RESPONSE

20. TOWARDS EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION COSP and REVIEW
An evident need for the two COSP to talk to each other
Strategic directions for more integration through REVIEW process to respond to the emerging challenges of
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME
&
TRANSNATIONAL CORRUPTION

21. TOWARDS EFFECTIVE INTEGRATED INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
More focused attention to the prevention of and international cooperation against organized crime and corruption is needed to integrate the normative and developmental platforms offered by UNCAC, UNTOC, human rights, anti-drug, arms trafficking and terrorism instruments and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Only in combination do these platforms offer a cohesive and effective crime-prevention and international cooperation strategy and practical policy and governance response

22. INTEGRATED TRANSNATIONAL CRIME CHALLENGE INTEGRATED INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE RESPONSES
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CORRUPTION CHALLENGE
requests
INTEGRATED INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE RESPONSE
Thank you