Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

 

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

  The General Assembly, Bearing in mind the responsibility assumed by the United Nations in the field of the prevention of crime and criminal justice under General Assembly resolution 415 (V) of 1 December 1950, in particular by convening the quinquennial congresses on the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders, Recalling its resolution 36/21 of 9 November 1981, in which it requested the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures for the fullest implementation of the Caracas Declaration and for the appropriate preparation of the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolutions 1982/29 of 4 May 1982, in which the Council approved the provisional agenda for the Seventh Congress, and 1984/45 of 25 May 1984 on the continuation of preparations for the Congress, as well as Council resolution 1984/51 of 25 May 1984 on technical co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice, Taking note of Economic and Social Council decision 1984/154 of 25 May 1984, in which it accepted the invitation of the Government of Italy to hold the Seventh Congress at Milan from 26 August to 6 September 1985, Acknowledging that criminality, particularly violent and organized crime, constitutes a serious threat to the development and security of nations, Recognizing that constraints of an economic and technical nature impede many countries in their fight against crime, Reiterating the necessity for the international community to make concerted and systematic efforts to strengthen technical and scientific co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice and to formulate fair, humane and effective policies directed towards crime control in the context of different political and cultural systems, economic and social development and social values and changes, Convinced of the important role played by the previous congresses in promoting understanding, awareness and co-operation and in achieving further progress in this field, Stressing the need to improve further regional, interregional and international co-operation and co-ordination in order to intensify the struggle against crime,

1. Expresses its appreciation to the Government of Italy for its offer to act as host to the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders;

2. Reaffirms its hope that the Seventh Congress will make an important and useful contribution to the solution of problems related to crime prevention and criminal justice;

3. Welcomes Economic and Social Council resolutions 1982/29 and 1984/45

and, in particular, the recommendation that the Seventh Congress finalize new guiding principles on crime prevention and criminal justice in the context of development;

4. Welcomes also the recommendations made by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1984/51 on improved modalities of technical co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice;

5. Takes note of the preparatory work carried out by the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, as the preparatory body for the Seventh Congress, at its eighth session and by the regional and interregional preparatory meetings convened in co-operation with the regional commissions, interregional and regional crime prevention institutes and interested Governments;

6. Calls upon Governments, United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, as well as interested non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, to participate in the Seventh Congress and to intensify and expand their technical and scientific preparations for it;

7. Invites the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1985 to approve the provisional rules of procedure of the Seventh Congress;

8. Requests the Seventh Congress, under item 3 of its provisional agenda, to give urgent attention to the strengthening of technical co-operation in crime prevention and criminal justice, in pursuance of the recommendations of the regional preparatory meetings and the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control;

9. Invites the Seventh Congress to pay particular attention to the question of illicit drug trafficking;

10. Appeals to Member States to consider contributing to the United Nations Trust Fund for Social Defence, in order to enable the Fund to undertake activities of assistance to countries requesting it, and to allocate an appropriate portion of their resources to programmes for the reduction of crime and the improvement of criminal justice;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the substantive and organizational work of the Seventh Congress is fully adequate for its successful outcome;

12. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fortieth session, in accordance with past practice, a report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Congress, to be prepared for the Seventh Congress in pursuance of paragraph 4 of Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/29;

13. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fortieth session his views and recommendations on the implementation of the conclusions of the Seventh Congress;

14. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fortieth session an item entitled "Crime prevention and criminal justice: report of the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders".