According to a statement from the Ministry of Justice, Morocco hopes to host one of the upcoming editions of the UN congress as part of efforts to bring the international forum closer to the realities and priorities of the African continent and give greater visibility to Africa’s perspective on complex, cross-border security and development challenges.
Morocco said in its address to the high-level segment of the congress, which opened Saturday, that it strongly endorsed the spirit of the Abu Dhabi Declaration. It stressed that justice should be measured not only by its ability to punish, but also by its capacity to prevent crime, protect victims, provide redress, support reintegration and build trust.
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Morocco also called for a new UN effort to strengthen coordination and complementarity among the various UN bodies and entities working to combat transnational organized crime and terrorism. “If the threats overlap, our response to them should not remain fragmented,” it said.
During the opening session of the congress, held under the theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the crime prevention congress was taking place at a time of profound change.
In a video message to the conference, she said that “justice must not be a privilege,” but should protect every individual, uphold everyone’s rights and “leave no one behind.”
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Monica Juma, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that “the world is gathering today in Abu Dhabi to reaffirm that the rule of law and criminal justice are essential to the security and safety of people and the planet.”
The opening session also saw the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, a forward-looking global framework aimed at strengthening international cooperation on criminal justice in response to rapidly evolving crime and the misuse of digital technologies.
The statement said member states, which adopted the declaration by consensus, expressed concern over emerging trends in an increasingly complex criminal landscape, including “crime-as-a-service” and “violence-as-a-service,” as well as the exploitation of cyber infrastructure and technologies.
Morocco is represented at the international gathering by a high-level delegation that includes senior officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecution and security services.
The delegation also includes the director of criminal affairs, pardons and crime monitoring at the Ministry of Justice, the head of the ministry’s National Crime Observatory, the director of the National Institute for Court Clerks and Legal and Judicial Professions, a representative of the National Financial Intelligence Authority, and two representatives of the National Integrity, Prevention and Fight Against Corruption Authority.
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The congress, which runs through October 1, opened with ministers, government officials, experts and academics from 119 countries in attendance.
UN Congresses on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have been held every five years since 1955. They play an important role in developing international standards and shaping crime prevention and criminal justice policies.
