Implementing UN convention on organized crime focus of OSCE Vienna meeting

VIENNA, 7 April 2008 - Assisting OSCE participating States in implementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its protocols is the focus of a workshop that opened in Vienna today.

The three-day event was organized by the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit in co-operation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It brings together over 100 experts from 27 countries and several international organizations.

"The main objective of the workshop is to study the modalities for effective legal co-operation in the field of extradition and mutual legal assistance, particularly in freezing and confiscating instrumentalities and proceeds of crime, covered by the Convention," said Kevin Carty, the Senior Police Adviser to the OSCE Secretary General.

"The workshop will also help establish informal links among law-enforcement and judicial personnel of the OSCE participating countries, improve domestic laws and implement practices in order to bring them in compliance with the provisions of the UNTOC."

The governments of Norway and Belgium provided financial support for the workshop, which responds to an OSCE Ministerial Decision recognizing the importance of implementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The workshop was designed to contribute effectively to improving cross border co-operation in fighting organized crime.