30th Session of the commission on crime prevention and criminal justice

Background

The thirtieth regular session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is scheduled for 17 to 21 May 2021. The provisional annotated agenda has been published on the website of the Commission and will be updated according to the present arrangements as appropriate. Additionally, the Commission decided to hold a ceremonial opening segment in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Commission.

The present proposed organizational arrangements were drafted in response to the recent developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into consideration the regulations by the host country, Austria, and the guidelines of the Vienna International Centre.

Organisation

The regular session will be conducted in a hybrid format, combining an in-person component with online participation. The in-person participation will be limited to United Nations Member States, and a limited number of delegates from UN Entities, Institutes of the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network (PNI), IGOs and NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC. The plenary meetings and the meetings of the Committee of the Whole (COW) will be held in the plenary room of the M-Building (Plenary/COW hall), the biggest room in the VIC, in a consecutive manner. The pre-session consultations will be held in a hybrid format on 14 May 2021, in the plenary/COW hall in the M-Building, from 12 noon to 2 pm. A technical test of the remote interpretation platform will be offered for delegates with speaker roles in the Plenary or the COW by conference services in connection with the pre-session consultations (14 May, 10-11:30 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.). A workshop of the PNI will be held in a hybrid format on the theme of the thematic discussion during the first meeting of the Committee of the Whole, prior to its consideration of draft resolutions (Monday, 17 May, 6-8 p.m.). There will be in the plenary/COW room one seat reserved for in-person participation for each United Nations Member State. In addition, there will be eight seats for UN Entities, eight seats for PNI, eight seats for IGOs and eight seats for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC reserved in the Plenary/COW hall, which will be assigned on a “first come first served”-basis. The in-person slots for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC will be determined through the Civil Society Unit of UNODC and the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. In light of the COVID-19 developments, journalists will be requested to follow the session online. 

Side events

Monday, 17th May COVID-19 in prisons: vaccinations and responses | Flyer | 13:10 - 14:00 (CEST)| Organised by Penal Reform International with the support of the UNODC HIV/AIDS Section and the World Health Organization 
Thursday, 20th May Addressing the global crisis of mass incarceration of women: Options for drug policy reform at times of COVID-19 | Flyer | 14:10 - 15:00 (CET Vienna) | Organised by the International Drug Policy Consortium, AWID, Penal Reform International, the Washington Office on Latin America, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales and Dejusticia
Friday, 21st May Tackling criminalization of the poor and most marginalised | Flyer | 14:10 - 15:00 (CEST) | Organised by the International Legal Foundation with the support of the Fair Trials, Open Society Foundations and Penal Reform International

Language

Simultaneous interpretation in all official United Nations languages will be provided for the Plenary and the Committee of the Whole.