At its 86th Plenary meeting, the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) took important decisions on the advancement of cooperation and prevention in criminal matters. The CDPC is the Council of Europe’s steering committee responsible for overseeing and coordinating the Council of Europe’s activities in the field of crime prevention and crime control. It identifies priorities for intergovernmental criminal law co-operation, and implements activities in the fields of criminal law and procedure, criminology and penology. Two subordinate committees assist the CDPC: the Committee of experts on the operation of European conventions on co-operation in criminal matters (PC-OC) and the Council for penological co-operation (PC-CP).

At its 86th Plenary meeting from 20 to 22 November 2024, the CDPC, inter alia, achieved results in the following areas:

• Approval of the draft Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law and its Explanatory Report: The Convention is set to be the first legally binding instrument with global impact to address environmental crime. The Convention will allow tackling a wide range of criminal acts detrimental to the environment, such as pollution, hazardous waste, illegal logging, trading in wildlife species, mining and the disruption of protected habitats. The draft Convention is transmitted to the Council of Ministers for adoption and it is expected that the Convention will be opened for signature in May 2025.
• Approval of the draft Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and its Explanatory Report: The Protocol will modernise the existing, multilateral provisions governing mutual assistance, extend the range of circumstances in which mutual assistance may be requested, facilitate assistance and making it quicker and more flexible. Hence, the Third Additional Protocol would establish electronic communications as the preferred channel of communication, promote hearings by video-conference, set up a framework of cooperation for the use of technical recording devices in the territory of another party, and facilitate the cross-border interception of telecommunications.
• Approval of the draft Recommendation on the promotion of positive mental health and the management of mental disorders of prisoners and probationers. It was decided that the draft text (together with the Explanatory Memorandum) is forwarded to the Council of Ministers for adoption.
• Start of work on drafting a new recommendation on migrant smuggling.

The CDPC also examined activities and advancements in a number of other areas, including: combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, artificial intelligence and criminal law, asset recovery, combatting organised crime related to drug trafficking, hate crime, restorative justice, and the Council of Europe Conventions on offences relating to Cultural Property, Medicrime and Trafficking in Human Organs.