G8 Summit 2009

G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministers' Meeting

International Conference Centre Alcide De Gasperi The city of Rome will be hosting the G8 Justice and Interior Ministers' Meeting, chaired by Justice Minister Angelino Alfano and by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, from 28 to 30 May.

The meeting will be attended by the sixteen G8 ministers and by their guests, namely European Commissioner Jacques Barrot, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble, UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa and UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) Director Sandro Calvani, as well as by the interior and justice ministers of the Czech Republic, which currently holds the European Union duty presidency.

The ministers will be addressing some of the most important current security - and immigration-related issues on the international agenda, in three sessions which are to be held on 29 and 30 May.

The first session will be focusing on the struggle against transnational organized crime through a common international strategy designed to combat mafioso assets and to counter today's "multinational crime corporations". Italy can boast of a very advanced legislative framework in this field, in addition to consolidated investigative and operational experience.

Also on the agenda is a ceremony devoted to the memory of Judge Giovanni Falcone, a symbol of the struggle against the Mafia and one of the first to realize the importance of striking a blow at the economic interests of organized crime. The Italian Presidency will be organizing an ad hoc event to mark the 10th anniversary of the commencement of the negotiations that were to lead to the adoption of the Palermo Convention, the first and so far the only universal tool for cooperation in the struggle against transnational organized crime. Other topics for debate will include various aspects of IT crime, and the tools required to combat the repugnant phenomenon of online paedo-pornography.

In the course of their second session the ministers will be addressing the issue of migration, dwelling in particular on illegal immigration, on human trafficking and on immigrants' integration with society.

The third session will begin with the issue of urban security. The decision to address this issue in a G8 context for the very first time was sparked by increasing international sensitivity towards the relationship between the growing size of cities, security, and the quality of life. The debate will go on to focus on developments in the field of international terrorism, and on cooperation in that field. One of the crucial topics for debate will be the relationship between the struggle against terrorism and respect for the principles of a rule-of-law state.

At the end of the meeting the ministers will be approving projects for operational cooperation in the field of security and they will be adopting a final declaration.

In the course of their working sessions the ministers will be benefiting from the technical input of the Roma/Lyons Group, which comprises the G8 experts in the areas of counterterrorism, law enforcement, high-tech crime, immigration, transport security and criminal legal cooperation. The Roma/Lyons Group held plenary sessions in February and in April to prepare the operational cooperation projects which the ministers will be approving. The experts will be holding a further working session in November to follow up on the guidelines spawned by the ministers' meeting.

Agenda

The meeting will comprise three sessions.

The first session will start at 10.00 a.m. on Friday 29 May, following an introductory welcome address from Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and from Justice Minister Angelino Alfano. The first session is entitled: "Organized Crime". The second session, starting at 3.00 p.m. on the same day, will be devoted to: "Migration Issues".

The third working session, on Saturday 30 May, will consist of two consecutive sittings. The first, at 9.30 a.m., will be devoted to the issue of "Urban Security"; while the second, at 10.45 a.m. is going to be focusing on the "Struggle Against Terrorism".

A news conference will be held at 1 p.m., after the meeting has come to an end.