Sri Lankan Attorney elected to Cybercrime Convention Bureau

At the recently concluded meeting of the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Sri Lankan Attorney, Jayantha Fernando, was elected to the Bureau of T-CY.

The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (ETS 185), often referred to as the “Budapest Cybercrime Convention”, is the only available global treaty which addresses Internet and computer related crime, harmonises national laws, adopts improved investigative techniques based on international standards and enhances criminal justice cooperation among nation states to effectively combat the threat from cybercrime. The Bureau of the Budapest Cybercrime Convention Committee, consisting of a Chair, Vice Chair and 9 elected experts from across the world, is tasked with the effective implementation of this important International treaty at a global level.

Although the Cybercrime Convention is a European Treaty, it is open for non-European countries to accede. As a result, countries such as the Australia, Canada, Japan, Dominican Republic, Mauritius and USA are state parties to the Convention and Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Tonga, and the Philippines have either signed it or been invited to accede. On 1st September 2015, the Budapest Cybercrime Convention entered into force in Sri Lanka. This is historic because Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia (and only the second Asian country, after Japan) to become a state party to this Convention. ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), where Jayantha Fernando serves as Legal Advisor, took the lead initiative to facilitate Sri Lanka’s entry into the Cybercrime Convention.

Fernando’s nomination was proposed by the Justice Ministry of Estonia and seconded by Romania and his election was unanimous with other state parties supporting the nomination, in recognition of the long standing work he has done through his effective advocacy of Cybercrime & Cyber security related policy matters at a global level. He becomes the first from a South East Asian country to be elected to the Bureau of the Budapest Cybercrime Convention.