Press
Release ECE/GEN/99/27
Geneva, 7 December 1999
CONFERENCE ON
ORGANISED CRIME TO BE HELD IN GENEVA
(Palais des Nations, Geneva, 9-10
December 1999)
An international conference on
judicial, banking and financial institutions fighting criminal activities will be held at
the Palais des Nations at Geneva on 9-10 December 1999. The concept that crime is
global and requires a global action as well as further extension of the area of competence
of the judiciary will form the basis of the discussions (see
programme).
The conference, which is organised by the
Crans Montana Forum and the Monaco World Summit, will be held under the auspices of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), the Council of Europe, and
the Supreme Court of France, with the cooperation of the Center for Democracy and of the
International Law Institute in Washington.
The conference will focus on the financial
aspects of organised crime. Plenary sessions will concentrate on how Governments can and
do react to organised crime, and how international institutions such as the World Bank,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Council of Europe can contribute to the
fight against organised crime.
The methods and proceedings of organised
criminal groups, such as money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption will be discussed,
and the situations in specific regions, including Africa, China and Central and Eastern
Europe will be elaborated. Particular attention will be paid to the situation in Russia,
notably in the context of the privatisation process and the necessary transparency of this
process.
Solutions to these issues and others will
be evaluated in the context of the supervision and control of criminal financial
activities. The reaction of specific countries and organisations to organised crime and
corruption, including that of the World Bank and Switzerland, will be discussed, as will
specific laws that have been enacted against illicit financial transactions.
Recommendations will also be made on
adapting governmental policies to the new World environment, the strengthening of the
judiciary, and the need to update national criminal legislations.
Speaking at the opening session will be
Vladimir Petrovsky, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Jean-Paul
Carteron, President of the Crans Montana Forum, Jean-François Burgelin, General
Prosecutor at the Supreme Court of France and Robert S. Gelbard, US Ambassador to
Indonesia.
Participants will include Yuri Tchaika,
Minister of Justice of Russia; Viktor Gerachtchenko, President of the Central Bank of
Russia; Jean Ziegler, previously Conseiller National for Switzerland; Manuel
Lezertua, Head of the Economic and Organised Crime Section of the Council of Europe;
Souheil El Zein, Legal Affairs Director of Interpol; and Jan-Kees Wiebenga,
Vice-President of the European Parliament and a number of top other officials.
For more information please contact: