Back Octopus Conference on Cybercrime

Strasbourg , 

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Distinguished guests, dear friends,

The Secretary General opened this Conference by saying – rightly – that cybercrime has now reached epic proportions.

And so the meeting began – rightly – with a provocative question:

Are Governments still able to ensure the rule of law in cyberspace, to protect individuals against crime and to defend the rights of victims?

A survey conducted on the first day revelead considerable levels of scepticism.

And yet, through your debates and discussions it has become clear that it is possible to police cyber space, and in a way which upholds our values…

…but only if the key players play their part.

It is less a question of what we are able to do…

…and more a question of what we are willing to do.

And what is clear is that we now need a major effort…

…particularly on five fronts which have been underlined over the last two days.

If I may, I would present these as the core areas for action identified by Octopus 2015.

One; better, more effective international cooperation.

The support for the Budapest Convention is extremely encouraging – particularly when you take into account the many States who are not party to it, but who have still drawn on our Convention in shaping their own legislation. Indications are that, as a result of this Octopus Conference, more States will seek accession in the coming months. This is good news.

We also need to make mutual legal assistance and police-to-police cooperation more efficient, as was emphasised in the workshop on international cooperation. The Cybercrime Convention Committee last December made 24 specific recommendations, for example a light regime for obtaining subscriber information would be needed: Follow up to these recommendations may do the trick.

And, clearly, cooperation efforts need to bring in a wider range of actors – business, data protection authorities, academia and other civil society organisations, fostering a sense of shared responsibility. And again, many of these stakeholders are here in this conference, and many of you have presented initiatives that I know will allow for vital synergies.

Two; capacity building. This and previous Octopus conferences have underlined for many years the value of capacity building. This has now become a mainstream international policy. It is an area where the international community has reached broad consensus. With our Cybercrime Programme Office in Romania, the Council of Europe has the infrastructure to further expand support to countries worldwide.  We will multiply our efforts to help you improve laws and establish a sustainable training system for your criminal justice officials. Other governments and organisations should do the same.

Three; the access criminal justice authorities have to evidence. Criminal justice measures against cybercrime rely on data. Without data, no evidence, no investigation, no prosecution and no justice. This conference discussed how we can address the matter of criminal justice evidence to evidence in the cloud and resolve the problem of jurisdiction. This is a complex matter, as you noted this week. I believe the most obvious framework is the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The Cloud Evidence Group of the Cybercrime Convention Committee will organise a hearing with industry and other stakeholders on 30 November, here in Strasbourg. Please join that meeting to discuss concrete proposals. This may eventually lead to a Protocol to the Budpaest Convention.

Four; putting victims at the forefront of our efforts. In the workshop on victims, you asked, bluntly, “victims of cybercrime: does anybody care?”. And more needs to be done to show that we do. In the final analysis this is what criminal justice is all about.

This includes the protection of children against online sexual violence.  As Marta Santos Pais, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, pointed out during the opening session, sexual violence against children is an extremely serious form of cybercrime. And, to tackle it, the Budapest Convention should be implemented along with treaties such as the Lanzarote Convention or the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. States should bring their domestic legal framework in line with these treaties. This will facilitate law enforcement operations to rescue victims and bring offenders to justice.

Finally; radicalisation on the Internet leading to terrorism has become a major problem – and one we need to deal with. As underlined by you, we need to be careful when drawing the boundaries between the freedom of expression and content contributing to radicalisation. And again, implementation of the Budapest Convention and of treaties such as the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, is complementary. In this regard, I call on Parties to the Budapest Convention to speed up ratification of the Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism committed through computer systems.

Dear colleagues,

The Octopus Conferences on Cybercrime over the past 11 years have been remarkable not only because of the impressive list of participants and the cooperative spirit, but also because they have gone to heart of the biggest and most challenging aspects of cybercrime – and this meeting has been no different.

The solutions you have identified and proposals you have made will help shape international policies and practices. We have – with you – the expertise we need to ensure the rule of law in cyberspace and to protect victims and their rights. As I said a few moments ago: this conference has confirmed for me that this is less a question of what the world is able to do, and more a question of what the world is willing to do.

For our part, the Council of Europe is ready, willing, and committed to working with you, to help states across Europe – and the world – get to grips with cybercrime.

With this, I declare Octopus 2015 closed.