Combating cybercrime in south-eastern Europe and Turkey will be the focus of a conference being held by the Council of Europe, the Serbian Justice Ministry and the European Commission, in particular the European Agency for Reconstruction, in Belgrade (Serbia) from 19 to 21 March 2007.

The discussions will centre on the effectiveness of national legislation and its compliance with the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, strengthening regional and international co-operation, and the capacity of criminal justice systems to investigate and prosecute cybercrime. The representatives of the 12 countries taking part (*) will also pool their experience in the area, along with examples of best practice for preventing and combating cybercrime.

In order to combat cybercrime and protect computer networks against criminal hacking and inappropriate uses, European governments are called on to:

establish cyber-offences as crimes under their domestic law so as to harmonise legislation and facilitate co-operation;
establish investigative and prosecutorial procedures and institutional capacities to enable criminal justice agencies to cope with high-tech crime;
create conditions facilitating direct co-operation between state institutions and between state institutions and the private sector;
set up 24-hour contact points to allow direct co-operation between multiple countries and establish inter-governmental emergency networks.

To date, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime has been ratified by 19 countries (including the United States) and the Additional Protocol concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems by 10 countries. Serbia signed both instruments on 7 April 2005, but has not yet ratified them.

The press is invited to attend the opening of the conference (Monday 19 March, from 10 to 11 am) - accreditation may be obtained from Dragan Stijelja-Jovanovic (see contact details below).

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(*) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and Turkey.