VIENNA, April 27 (KUNA) -- Mohammad bin Khadra, the legal advisor to the Arab League's Secretary General, said Friday the League was trying to convince its member states, which have yet to endorse the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Protocols Thereto, to do so as early as possible.
The League's efforts in this regard are making a tangible progress, Bin Khadra said in his address to the 21st session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held here on April 23-27.
The Arab countries, realizing the need to scale up regional cooperation to enforce this global legal instrument, singed the Arab treaty against transnational organized crime in Cairo on December 22, 2010, he recalled.
A technical commission representing the Arab ministries of justice and interior is debating a draft protocol on the combat of maritime piracy attached to the treaty; the document is expected to be endorsed the coming meeting of the committee in Cairo next week, he revealed.
The League is working closely with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to enforce the international crime and drug control treaties.
The League's Secretariat will host the first meeting of the steering committee on the UN regional program for combating narcotics and criminal justice (2011-15) on May 9-10, Bin Khadra added.
The just-ended session of the UN Commission reviewed the implementation of resolutions and decisions relating to crime prevention and criminal justice adopted during the period 2008-11. (end) amg.gb KUNA 272351 Apr 12NNNN