As delivered by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Ministers of Justice of Croatia and Slovenia,

Excellencies,

Members of the Cybercrime Convention Committee,

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Second Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention was opened for signature just six months ago.

Since then, 24 countries have signed it and, today, we welcome six more.

Our member states, Croatia, the Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom –

Along with Sri Lanka, from outside our Organisation –

They are all taking the opportunity to sign this treaty.

This is excellent progress in a short period of time on a very important part of our work.

Moreover, Brazil will today deposit the instrument of accession to the Cybercrime Convention, bringing its total number of States Parties to 68.

Dear friends,

Today, more and more of our time is spent online –

I do it myself, and I see my family, friends and colleagues do it.

This certainly exposes us to all sorts of information as well as disinformation, the good and the bad of the internet – it exposes us to cybercrime as well.

Crime that regrettably is becoming more and more frequent, cunning and diverse.

So, we must act to help give people the safety and security that they need.

The Second Additional Protocol is yet one more step in that direction, as it provides more effective tools for obtaining evidence from computer systems in foreign, and multiple jurisdictions.

It also provides new, innovative measures –

Including the direct, cross-border co-operation between service providers, that speeds up the process of identifying offenders and the sources of a crime.

And it ensures the fuller and faster disclosure of evidence in emergency situations, where lives are at risk, such as terrorist attacks and online child abuse.

All of this comes with a strong system of safeguards –

Ensuring that action taken is in line with the Second Additional Protocol and also respects European standards in human rights and the protection of personal data.

All in all, what this means is the extension of justice into cyberspace.

And the more countries that sign, ratify and implement it, the further that reach will go –

While ensuring that the principles contained within our original Budapest Convention on Cybercrime remain relevant to the modern world –

And at the same time providing greater safety online, that would otherwise not be the case.

Let me end by congratulating once again, those that are signing this important protocol today –

We need this commitment and leadership today.

Thank you for your attention.