OAS Ministers of Justice Hold Third Meeting

On March 1-3, 2000, the third meeting of the Ministers of Justice or of Ministers of Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA) took place. Two areas that were the subject of focus were cyber crime and extradition and mutual assistance. 1. CyberCrime The ministers urged the OAS member states to take several measures to prevent and combat cyber crime: (a) identify one or more agencies within their country that will have primary authority and responsibility to investigate and prosecute cyber crime; (b) enact legislation on cyber crime, if they have not already done so; (c) harmonize their laws on cyber crime in order to facilitate international cooperation in preventing and combating these illegal activities; (d) ascertain the training needs in cyber crime and explore bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to fulfill those needs; (e) consider participating in the 24-Hour/7-Day a Week Point of Contact Group, or participate in other existing mechanisms for cooperation or the exchange of information to start or receive information; (f) increase awareness of cyber crime among the general public, including users in the education system, the legal system, and the justice system concerning the need to prevent and combat cyber crime; (g) consider diverse prevention or enforcement measures, including the establishment of a Voluntary Specific Fund, to support efforts to expand cooperation on this matter in the Hemisphere; (h) promote, in the framework of the OAS, the exchange of information on cyber crime and dissemination of information regarding activities in this field, including the OAS Web page on the subject; and (i) monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Group of Government Experts in the framework of the OAS, considering the need to prepare guidelines to orient national efforts in the field of cyber crime through, e.g., the development of model legislation or other legal instruments and training programs...[more]