Strengthening the capacity of the Ukrainian authorities to implement the Cybercrime Convention, in particular with regard to provisions on international co-operation, will be at the centre of a conference organised on 6 and 7 February in Kyiv by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, according to the CE Communication Office.
In order to counter cybercrime and protect computer networks against criminal intrusion and misuse, European governments are encouraged to:
§ criminalise cyber-offences in their national laws with a view to harmonising legislation and facilitating co-operation;
§ establish investigative and prosecutorial procedures and institutional capacities allowing criminal justice bodies to fight more effectively against high-tech crime;
§ provide a breeding ground for direct co-operation between state institutions, and between state institutions and the private sector;
§ set up efficient mutual legal assistance regimes, allowing direct co-operation among countries and the establishment of intergovernmental emergency networks.
The conference in Kyiv follows a double objective:
§ raise awareness within the Ministry of the Interior, the Ukrainian State Security Services, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Prosecutor General and courts on the cybercrime threats in general and specific provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime;
§ ensure that the Ukrainian authorities are able to undertake the legislative and technical measures needed for an effective international co-operation.
Ukraine ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime on 10 March 2006, and its additional Protocol on the criminalisation of acts of racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems on 21 December 2006.
