On 27 December 2019, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (GA) adopted Resolution 74/247 on “Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes” proposed by the Russian Federation (Russia), kicking off the initiative for a new UN treaty on cybercrime. The GA decided to establish an open-ended ad hoc intergovernmental committee of experts to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes (the Ad-hoc Committee). The Ad Hoc Committee prepared Resolution 75/282 on Countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, which sets out the organisational aspects of the multilateral negotiations to draft a UN cybercrime treaty. Following the negotiations, a draft convention is to be submitted to the GA at its 78th session (September 2023-September 2024).

This document analyses the draft proposal of the UN Cybercrime Treaty. It provides information on the expected scope and procedural elements set out in the treaty, as well as potential challenges that the treaty may face.

The document was prepared within the framework of the SIRIUS Project. The SIRIUS Project has received funding from the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments under Contribution Agreement No PI/2020/417-500.