Committee Background

UNODC deals with a wide range of matters including:

● Corruption
● Drug crime
● Organized crime
● Trafficking
In dealing with these areas, the UNODC is the principal body in addressing these matters;
producing and carrying out discussions on important legislature and conventions; funding and
piloting projects and campaigns to curb crime and ensure the SDGs are able to be achieved by
limiting crime and protecting vulnerable communities.

It has 6 main goals:

1. Strengthening legislative and judicial capacities of member states
2. Limit drug trafficking
3. Prevent drug use and related infections
4. Counter human trafficking and smuggling of immigrants
5. Reduce the incidence of domestic violence
6. Promoting victim empowerment

To achieve these goals the office takes into consideration the use of many different actors such
as Judicial Bodies, both on a national level and international level, often pushing for
advancement and amendments to currently existing penal codes and prosecution techniques.

UNODC focuses on ensuring that the many treaties and conventions that are passed within the
committee are refurbished, renewed, and enforced. The Office ensures that nations are able to
hold to their commitments to mitigating crime and corruption: it provides the necessary
resources and funding for nations as well as recommendations for nations and necessary
pathways to accomplishing their goals.

The office has many collaborations with other organizations within the UN and others: this is
especially seen in addressing harm to health by drug use with past collaborations with the WHO
and other organs to help educate, spread awareness, and rehabilitation/treatment of victims.
 Conference topic
Reevaluation of present legislation on the prosecution and Identification of
drug-related crime

Topic Background

There is a constant battle that is being fought between nations and drug syndicates. There has
been a steep rise in the level of crime in recent years especially within the South American
syndicates. Similar rises often coincide with political and economic decline and instability within
regions.
There are a few main reasons why crime levels can grow:
1. Lack of monitoring
2. Inability to enforce existing legislation
3. Failure and inability to effectively prosecute and deter
4. Failure to insulate vulnerable populations
5. The existence of corruption within governing and judicial bodies

It is important to understand the role of NSAs as well as the state in the facilitation and
continued presence of such crime, taking into consideration the possibility of links to the
governing and judicial bodies and how such corruption can be identified and dealt with. This is,
therefore, the main barrier to effective change to be made. However, due to the inability to
effectively identify such links it is difficult for any further action to be taken.

Case Studies

1. Lack of monitoring:

Drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle:

Drug trafficking has been a noted issue in the region where Thailand’s Chiang Rai
province meets Myanmar and Laos, termed the Golden Triangle.
The border areas between Thailand and the neighboring regions along the Mekong River
are abundant with a disturbing increase in drug production, trafficking, and usage. The
cartels often use the jungles of the region

This is an example of the inability of nations to prevent cross-border movement of drugs

and crime. This is principally due to the inability to monitor such movements, thus a
fundamental failure of these nations. Furthermore, it is important to understand the role
of the state and other actors such as PMCs.
2. Inability to enforce and prevalence of corruption

The South American cartels

Throughout the South American region, there are several crime syndicates and cartels
that exist both within the confines of a state and across borders as in the case of the
Peruvian and Colombian cartels.
These cartels have immense wealth that they can use to recruit and enforce their control
over their territories, often gaining the favor of the local communities; thus acting as a
pseudo-authority in some regions. This allows these cartels to carry out their activity
without the fear of being caught or pushed out as well as providing them access to
avenues such as child traffickers.
It is also important to understand the role of the state and local law enforcement: the
cartels are often able to use bribes and other avenues of corruption as a key pathway to
ensuring the preservation of territory and trade routes. This poses a key threat to the
ability of the state and the international authority to crack down on cartel activity.

This is therefore a clear example of where legislation has inherently failed to curb the rise
of crime, by not taking into consideration the prevalence of corruption. Thus, it is
important to understand how nations must address corruption and hold the relevant actors
accountable as a prerequisite to stopping drug-related crime.
Existing legislature

There are currently several key pieces of legislation that have been passed and adopted by
member states; each of them having there jurisdictions and role in stopping the rise of
Drug-related crime:

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto

The Convention was adopted by the United Nations in 2000 and came into effect in 2003 and
was ratified by 190 countries. The convention obligates countries to work together to prevent and
combat serious crimes like human trafficking, trafficking in firearms, and corruption.
It has the main aims of:
● Ensuring international cooperation - By facilitating information sharing and coordinated
law enforcement and development efforts
● Preventing crime- By targeting the root causes of crime that allow for the proliferation of
crime and growth of crime syndicates
● Protecting and empowering victims- By developing the support systems that exist within
member states

The UNTOC also has three optional Protocols that countries can choose to adopt. These
Protocols provide more specific guidance on how to address:
● Trafficking in persons, especially women and children
● Smuggling of migrants by land, sea, and air
● Illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms

United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
of 1988

It's one of three major international agreements on drug control. It strengthens two earlier UN
conventions from 1961 and 1971. It has been ratified by 191 countries and is commonly kept up
with by the office to ensure that the principles of the convention are held up.
The convention has a few goals:

● Stops the illegal trade of certain substances: These substances are listed in the convention
and categorized based on their medical benefits and risks for dependence and abuse.
● Increases cooperation between countries: Law enforcement agencies around the world
work together to track and stop drug trafficking.
 ● Reduces the supply of illegal drugs: Countries are encouraged to control the legal
production of substances that can be used to make illegal drugs.
● Money laundering: It includes provisions to counter the laundering of money obtained
from illegal drug sales.

United Nations Convention against Corruption

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is an international agreement that
aims to fight corruption. It's the only legally binding international treaty specifically on
corruption.

In its resolution 55/61, the General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal
instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime was desirable. The Convention was adopted by the General
Assembly on 31 October 2003.

It provides an effective framework for the mitigation of corruption within the state, by providing
accountability mechanisms and transparency. It establishes a precedent of criminalization and
sets up effective preventative measures.

It is important to consider how effective these documents are in curbing the rise of crime and any
amendments that need to be made.

Further points to consider

● The role of international judicial bodies in the mitigation of such crime

○ Are these bodies capable of aiding in the battle against drug crime?

○ Can they be mobilized to have a more active role?

● The role of NSAs and NGOs in the facilitation and mitigation of drug crime

○ How they can aid the governments?

○ How to hold them accountable?

 ● The failures of the current legislature to consider factors that facilitate drug crime

○ Why are they flawed?

○ Can these be amended?

Reference & Further study

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071192
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/drug-trafficking/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11001803
https://uncaccoalition.org/resources/uncac-guide/uncac-advance-anti-corruption-efforts-guide-en.
pdf
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/es/commissions/CND/Subsidiary_Bodies/Subsidiary-Bodies_Inde
x.html