Review of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime

On June 16, 2025, the Ministry of Justice held a meeting of the Council for the Review of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime based on Decision No. 1681/QD-BTP dated June 10, 2025 of the Minister of Justice on the establishment of the Council for the Review of the draft United Nations Convention against Cybercrime. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Bach Quoc An, Director of the Department of International Law, Ministry of Justice.

At the Appraisal Council meeting, Mr. Nguyen Huu Phu, Deputy Director of the Department of Law and International Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs , representing the Agency in charge of negotiating the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, briefly presented the basic contents of the Convention and the necessity of signing the Convention. In particular, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized the meaning, value and importance of the Convention in the general context. That is, the strong explosion of information and communication technology has brought great benefits, but activities affecting network security and cybercrime have also increased significantly.
Recognizing the importance of combating cybercrime globally, after more than 5 years of negotiations, on December 24, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft United Nations Convention against Cybercrime - the first United Nations Convention and also the first common legal framework regulating countries' cooperation in the fields of information sharing, investigation coordination, evidence collection... related to cybercrime.
 

Mr. Nguyen Huu Phu, Deputy Director of the Department of Law and International Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - representative of the Agency in charge of proposing the signing of the Convention - reported at the meeting.

It is noteworthy that Hanoi , Vietnam was chosen as the location for the opening ceremony of the Convention (Article 64.1 of the Convention stipulates that “This Convention shall be open for signature by all States in Hanoi in 2025 and thereafter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York until 31 December 2026”). This is truly an important milestone in multilateral diplomacy and the 47 years of Vietnam - United Nations relations. This Convention is the first United Nations Convention on Cybercrime and the first time a multilateral international document of the United Nations has been opened for signature in Vietnam, recognizing the capital city of Hanoi in the text and name of the Convention, reflecting the international community's high recognition of our efforts and commitments in promoting multilateral cooperation.
Therefore, Vietnam's early preparation of conditions to sign and proceed to ratify the Convention will have great political significance, continuing to demonstrate our efforts and commitments in promoting multilateral cooperation, promoting the role and value of the United Nations Charter and international law, actively contributing to the common work of the United Nations, participating in solving global issues, including cybercrime.

The representative of the Supreme People's Court commented on the draft Convention.  

Regarding the content of the Convention, at the meeting of the Appraisal Council, most of the relevant ministries, branches and agencies attending the meeting agreed that the Convention does not contain any content contrary to the Constitution and relevant legal documents. However, representatives of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Post and Telecommunications Group, and some units under the Ministry of Justice commented that some provisions of the Convention need to be further reviewed and assessed for their level of conformity with relevant legal documents to ensure appropriate and effective implementation of the Convention.
Presenting their opinions at the Appraisal Council meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs both said that the provisions of the Convention have many similarities with other United Nations Conventions to which Vietnam is a member, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). Vietnamese law has basically met the requirements of the Convention and the amendment and supplementation of domestic legal documents to implement the Convention (if any) can be carried out according to a roadmap, in accordance with Vietnam's conditions, similar to other United Nations Conventions such as the UNCAC, UNTOC, etc.
Concluding the meeting of the Appraisal Council, Mr. Bach Quoc An, Director of the Department of International Law, Ministry of Justice, requested the Agency in charge of proposing the signing of the Convention to study, absorb and fully explain the opinions of the members of the Appraisal Council, and at the same time emphasized the need to carefully review the level of conformity of the Convention with the provisions of Vietnamese law, thereby clarifying the requirements for amending and supplementing relevant legal documents to implement the Convention, and reporting to competent authorities for consideration and decision./.

Source: https://moj.gov.vn/qt/tintuc/Pages/hoat-dong-cua-cac-don-vi-thuoc-bo.aspx?ItemID=5410