Regional Preparatory Meetings for the Fourteenth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in Kyoto, Japan in April 2020
Every five years, since 1955, the United Nations has convened world congresses covering the myriad of issues pertaining to crime, its prevention and deterrence, as well as to improving the operations of criminal justice systems and fostering international cooperation in these fields. For over half a century, the congresses have shaped international and domestic policy in crime prevention and criminal justice, and they remain unique as the only major United Nations conference that brings together policymakers and practitioners in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice, with the participation of parliamentarians, individual experts from academia and representatives from civil society and the media.
The Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be convened in April 2020 in Kyoto, at the generous invitation of the Government of Japan. The main theme of the Fourteenth Congress is: "Advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda."
In its resolution 72/192, the UN General Assembly has requested for the convening of regional preparatory meetings to examine the substantive items on the agenda and the topics of workshops of the Congress and to make action-oriented recommendations to serve as a basis for the draft recommendations and conclusions for consideration by the Congress. (See A/RES/72/192, OP 12 & 13)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is currently working on the logistical arrangements for holding the following four regional preparatory meetings for the Fourteenth Congress as follows:
- Asia and Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting (Bangkok, Thailand, 22-24 January 2019);
- Western Asian Regional Preparatory Meeting (Beirut, Lebanon, 26-28 March 2019);
- Latin American and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting (Santiago, Chile, 5-7 February 2019); and
- African Regional Preparatory Meeting (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9-11 April 2019).
In operative paragraph 19 of the aforementioned resolution, the UN General Assembly “encourages the relevant United Nations programmes, specialized agencies of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as other professional organizations, to cooperate with UNODC in the preparations for the Fourteenth Congress.”
In pursuance, UNODC has invited AALCO to participate as an observer in one or more of the regional preparatory meetings.