The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime of 2001 is a historic milestone in the combat against cyber crime. Member States should complete the ratification, and other States should consider the possibility of acceding to the Convention or evaluate the advisability of implementing the principles of the Convention. With the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the recommendations from, G8, OAS, and APEC, we may reach our goal of a global legal framework against cybercrime.


By ratifying or acceding to the Council of Europe Convention of Cybercrime, or implementing the principles, States agree to ensure that their domestic laws criminalize conducts described in the substantive criminal law section and establish the procedural tools necessary to investigate and prosecute such crimes. This is the harmonizing of national legal approaches on cybercrime.


The Council of Europe established a Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyber-space in 1997. The committee prepared a proposal for a Convention on Cybercrime, and the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime was adopted and opened for signatures at a Conference in Budapest, Hungary, 2001.The Convention entered into force on July 1, 2004. As of September 2015, the total number of signatures not followed by ratifications are 7 countries. The total number of ratifications/accessions are 47:

  1. Albania

  2. Armenia

  3. Australia

  4. Austria

  5. Azerbaijan

  6. Belgium

  7. Bulgaria

  8. Bosnia and Herzegovina

  9. Canada

  10. Croatia

  11. Cyprus

  12. Denmark

  13. Dominican Republic

  14. Estonia

  15. Finland

  16. France

  17. Georgia               

  18. Germany                

  19. Hungary

  20. Iceland

  21. Italy

  22. Japan

  23. Latvia

  24. Lithuania

  25. Luxembourg

  26. Macedonia

  27. Malta

  28. Mauritius

  29. Moldova

  30. Montenegro

  31. Netherlands

  32. Norway

  33. Panama

  34. Portugal

  35. Romania

  36. Serbia

  37. Slovakia

  38. Slovenia

  39. Spain

  40. Sri Lanka

  41. Switzerland

  42. Turkey

  43. Ukraine

  44. United Kingdom

  45. USA


For more information visit the Council of Europe Cybercrime portal