The United Nations Convention on Combating Cyber Crime (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”) open signing ceremony on the theme of “Fighting Cyber Crime – Sharing Responsibility – Towards the Future” (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”) was held at the National Conference Center in Hanoi, Vietnam.
After five years of negotiations, the Convention, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2024, is the first global treaty to define cybercrime as a criminal offence.The Convention also establishes the first global framework for the collection, sharing and use of electronic evidence for serious crimes, which has not been widely recognized by international standards.
The Convention consists of chapters 9 and 71.It will enter into force 90 days after the ratification by the 40th signatories.In his speech on 25 October, the Executive Director of the Office of the United Nations on Drugs and Crime, Kadha Fattah Vali, called on countries to sign, ratify and implement the Convention as soon as possible, and to increase their efforts to build capacity, improve legal frameworks and international cooperation, in support of developing countries.In early October, China called on countries to join the Convention to promote the Convention to provide assistance in combating terrorist activities that use information and communication technologies.
According to Pakistan's "Dawn" newspaper, the Vietnam government said this week that 60 countries have registered to formally sign the agreement, but did not disclose the specific country.
The Russian newspaper said that this convention will remain open for signature by all UN Member States in Hanoi until the end of 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the signing of the Convention is of historic significance, and Russia is willing to cooperate closely with the international community in combating cybercrime.
"The Convention is an important turning point in promoting global cooperation in combating cybercrime." Vietnam News Agency said on the 25th that more than 60% of the world's population currently uses the Internet. Asia News Channel Singapore stated that the Convention is the world's first legal document to combat cyberspace crime and aims to strengthen international cooperation to combat digital crimes from child pornography to transnational online fraud and money laundering. Reuters said that the United Nations said the Convention targets a wide range of crimes, including phishing, ransomware, illegal online transactions and hate speech. It is estimated that global losses caused by cybercrime reach trillions of dollars every year.