Conference 'The Palermo Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime'

The University of Ferrara’s Law Department was the stage for a day of presentations and discussions on the implementation of the Palermo Convention, on the 15th anniversary of its implementation.   

Speakers ranged from legal scholars from the a range of European Universities (Milan, Leiden, Kings College London, Lille, etc.), representatives from The United Nations, and advisers to Permanent Representatives.  

Victim Support Europe, the only NGO invited, delivered a presentation entitled ‘The Obligations of Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Victims of Crime’, which identified the gaps between the obligations established in the Convention, and the measures of support and protections that victims of crime access in reality. The presentation of 20 minutes, followed by a Q&A session, presented the legal framework for victims’ rights (with a particular regard to victims of trafficking), and how victims’ rights enshrined in these international and European instruments fail to function as prescribed in practice. Recommendations for future action outlines simple, practical steps that justice systems and law enforcement agencies can implement to further their adherence with these legal instruments.   

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo Convention), in force since 2003, is today the most important international instrument for the prevention and repression of transnational organized crime. The Osservatorio sulla criminalità organizzata (CROSS) and the Centre for European Legal Studies on Macro-Crime (Macrocrimes), with the support of the Department for international, legal and historical-political studies (DILHPS) of the University of Milan and of the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara, jointly organized a conference on the 15th anniversary of the entry into force of the Palermo Convention – a moment when the recently adopted review mechanism may contribute to relaunching its role internationally.