Check against delivery - Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Minister Attard, President Rousopoulos, distinguished guests, dear friends,

Criminal networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and inventive in the ways that they can use distance, technology and artificial intelligence to their advantage.

Their operations can be based anywhere and everywhere, and this is having a profound effect on our world.

From 2015 to 2021, the UN estimated that organised crime caused around 700,000 deaths.

Drug trafficking is the leading criminal activity in Europe, involving 50 per cent of all criminal networks.

Those networks are managed with the level of organisation of multinational corporations — and indeed their profits are as great, or even greater.

Cybercrime could cost the global economy over 21 trillion euros by 2027.

And when organised crime interacts with corruption or infiltrates institutions or businesses, the consequences can be devastating, eroding public trust in democracy and damaging the Rule of Law.

The only way we can counter transnational crime is to work together to achieve rules-based order across Europe.

The Council of Europe began creating a robust multilateral framework for judicial cooperation decades ago.

Instruments such as the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters provide the backbone for combatting impunity across Europe and beyond.

The Third Additional Protocol to the Convention has beenopen for signature during this Informal Conference.

There are numerous other Council of Europe conventions relevant to addressing transnational crime, including those on corruption; cybercrime; money-laundering and the proceeds of crime, and the Warsaw Convention.

Recent conventions address new forms of transnational crime such as counterfeit medical products and the manipulation of sports competitions, and crimes against the environment.

Our solid system of legal and judicial cooperation is rooted in human rights, the rule of law, and fair trial guarantees.

The Council of Europe provides a critical platform for dialogue and practical solutions by practitioners, through committees including the Committee of Experts on the Operation of European Conventions on Co-operation in Criminal Matters.

By setting clear and compatible standards, and offering expert advice, we are enabling lawyers from diverse legal systems to achieve their goals.

But at the same time, the level of attacks on the legal profession is rising.

This can take the form of harassment, threats, attacks or interference in lawyers’ exercise of their duties.

I encourage all member states to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Profession of Lawyer — the first international, legally binding instrument dedicated to the protection of lawyers, opened for signature in May and signed by 18 member states already.

Those who defend justice must be able to go about their work effectively and without fear.

I also encourage member states to sign the Convention on the protection of the environment through criminal law when opens for signature in Strasbourg on 3 December this year.

Thank you all for your vital support for the system of judicial cooperation and exchange of information that the Council of Europe Conventions represent.

Together we can work to fight crime and reinforce trust in our judicial and democratic processes.