Sommaire: May 22, 2003: Intervention by Greece on behalf of the European Union Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice 12th session (13-22 May, 2003)
Agenda Item 7: Use and Application of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
1. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and the associated countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, associate themselves with this statement.
2. The use and implementation of the United Nations' standards and norms is a positive step towards addressing crime prevention and criminal justice in an effective way. These standards and norms also serve the purpose of harmonizing legislations, aimed at providing a unified response to crime related problems. For these reasons their application and formulation should continue to be accorded a high priority by the Commission. In this regard, we encourage the Centre for International Crime
Prevention to continue to take them into account, while providing technical assistance to States.
3. The European Union expresses its appreciation to the Secretariat for the documentation presented on the Meeting of Experts on the application of UN Standard and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice that took place in Austria last February following ECOSOC resolution 2002/15, and the report on the outcome of this meeting. We consider the use and application of the standards and norms as indispensable tools towards a more effective administration of justice and a less crime ridden
international community. Therefore, we appreciate the experts' efforts in evaluating the progress made in the application of the existing UN standards and norms, as well as in reviewing the present system of reporting and we have given due consideration to the recommendations that the meeting adopted.
4. The EU takes note of the recommendation of the group of experts regarding the establishment of a supplementary mechanism to undertake periodic reviews of the use and application of selected standards and norms, with a view to ensure their promotion, as well as to make appropriate recommendations to the Commission. The group of experts proposed also that, in line with the programme priorities of the United Nations, each session of the Commission should seek to focus on a group of standards
(clustered approach), with a view to identifying difficulties in application, ways in which technical assistance can overcome these difficulties, and desirable practices. The European Union acknowledges the advantages that this approach presents, both in practical and substantive terms, and is willing to support it.
5. Furthermore, the European Union is in agreement with the proposition concerning the designation of new survey instruments that should focus on identifying difficulties encountered by States in their application and on lessons learned and best practices. Moreover, the various survey instruments used by the Office of Drugs and Crime should be reviewed in order to be brought in line with the overall United Nations programme priorities.
6. In addition to the above, recommendations of the experts such as to encourage officials in peace-keeping and peace-building operations and their counterparts to apply, where appropriate, United Nations standards and norms and to promote training on United Nations standards and norms for all persons participating in training programmes of national institutions and non-governmental organizations are also worth further consideration.
7. Finally, Mr. Chairman, the EU welcomes the initiative of CICP together with the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, to develop a new survey instrument for gathering information on juvenile justice and prison reform, including alternatives to imprisonment and restorative justice. The EU is looking forward to seeing this new survey instrument finalized.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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