The Inter-American Cooperation Portal on Cyber-Crime, has compiled the existing cyber-crime legislation of the OAS Member States, see http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/cyber_legis.htm

2013

A Workshop on cybercrime was held in Peru on March 11-13. the purpose was training of prosecutors and law enforcement officials from Polivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru.

2012

The Seventh Meeting of the Working Group on Cyber-Crime will be held in Washington DC on February 6-7. A Draft Agenda is available on the website.

2011

A technical workshop following the The Sixth Meeting of the Working Group on Cyber-Crime, was organized in Miami, USA, on May 9-13.


2010

The Sixth Meeting of the Working Group on Cyber-Crime met in Washington DC on January 21-22. The Experts made several recommendations that will be evaluated at the upcoming OAS Ministers of Justice and Attorney Generals Meeting in Brazil on February 24-26. Among the recommendations were to take further legislative steps to define cybercrime and how to prosecute it. 


  1. The OAS working group on cybercrime has recommended several intiatives, including legislative steps to define cybercrime and how to prosecute it.


2009

A Regional Workshop on Cybercrime was held in Panama in August 2009, see 

http://www.oas.org/juridico/newsletter/lc_en.htm


The Ministers of Justice and Attorney Generals met at their fourth plenary session on June 4, 2009. The meeting expressed its satisfaction with the progress in implementing the recommendations of REMJA-VII. The compilation of information on cybercrime legislation issued by the member states through the Inter-American Cooperation Portal on Cybercrime was emphasized.


2008

The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General was held in April 2008 and adopted the outcome of the 2007 Experts meeting in Washington DC. This process was referred at the plenary session of the OAS general Assembly in June 2008.


A Workshop on Cybercrime Legislation, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, was held in Bogota, Colombia, in September 2008.


The Inter-American Cooperation Portal on Cyber-Crime, has compiled the existing cyber-crime legislation of the OAS Member States, see http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/cyber_legis.htm


2007

The V Meeting of Group of Governmental Experts on Cyber-Crime was held in Washington DC in November 2007. Agreement was reached on recommendations to strengthen and consolidate hemispheric cooperation in the prevention and fight against cyber-crime, and included in no 3 and no 8 as follows:

“ That the states that have not yet done so, as soon as possible, examine their legal systems and adopt the specific legislation and procedural measures necessary to criminalize the different modalities of cyber-crimes, ensure the efficient, effective and timely investigation and prosecution of those crimes, and enable states to cooperate with each other in the investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes.” (3)

“That …, the states consider applying the principles of the Council of Europe´s Convention on Cybercrime, acceding thereto, and adopting the legal and other measures required for its implementation.” (8)

It was also recommended for the states to join the G-8 “24 hours/7 days Emergency Network of Contacts for High Tech Crime.


Before 2007:

The Ministers of Justice or Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas in the Organization of American States (OAS) recommended in Peru in 1999 the establishment of a group of governmental experts on cybercrime. At a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in 2002 recommendations were adopted giving the Group of Experts the following mandate:

“To consider the preparation of pertinent inter-American legal instruments and model legislation for the purpose of strengthening hemispheric cooperation in combating cybercrime, considering standards relating to privacy, the protection of information, procedural aspects, and crime prevention.”

Consideration of recommendations was discussed at a meeting in Washington D.C., June 23-24, 2003.

The Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas in
Washington D.C. on April 28-30, 2004, approved conclusions and recommendations to the General Assembly of the OAS, including as follows:

“That Member States evaluate the advisability of implementing the principles of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (2001), and consider the possibility of acceding to that convention.”

The General Assembly of the Organization of American States requested at the Meeting on June 7, 2005, the Permanent Council to convene the meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Cybercrime.

The Organization of American States, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and Spain, organized a conference in Madrid on December 12-13, 2005. This conference was titled Cybercrime - A Global Challenge, A Global response. Among the conclusions was adopted:

Acknowledge the importance of the only international treaty in this field: the Convention on Cybercrime which is open to all States as well as the importance of strengthening the international legal framework;
Strongly encourage States to consider the possibility of becoming Parties to this Convention in order to make use of effective and compatible laws and tools to fight cybercrime, at domestic level and on behalf of international cooperation;
Recognize the need of pursuing cooperation, providing technical assistance and organizing similar events in other regions of the world.

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States resolved on December 15, 2005, that the Group of Governmental Experts on Cybercrime should meet on February 27-28, 2006, for the purpose of carrying out the mandates referred to in the conclusions and recommendations of the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Justice on April 28-30, 2004.

The Group of Governmental Experts on Cybercrime met in Washington D.C. February 27-28, 2006. The Agenda included also:

Challenges on accessing, drafting and amending legislation consistent with the principles, substantive and procedural law of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (2001).

At the Sixth Meeting of Ministers of Justice in June 2006 it was made a statement as follows:

“…continue to strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe so that the OAS member states can give consideration to applying the principles of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cyber-crime and to acceding thereto, and to adopting the legal and other measures required for its implementation. Similarly, that efforts continue to strengthen mechanisms for the exchange of information and cooperation with other international organizations and agencies in the area of cybercrime, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the G-(, the Commonwealth, and Interpol, in order for the OAS member states to take advantage of progress in those forums.”

The conclusions and recommendations were followed up at a plenary session in June 2007 and a resolution was adopted (AG/RES. 2266 (XXXVII-o/07))