14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

1.    Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower & Second Minister for Home Affairs, attended and participated virtually in the High-Level Segment of the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Crime Congress), which was held in Kyoto, Japan from 7 – 9 March 2021. Minister Teo was joined by officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, the Central Narcotics Bureau, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and the Singapore Prison Service (SPS).

2.    The Crime Congress is held once every five years and brings together over 100 high-level international representatives from Governments, intergovernmental organisations, academia, civil society and criminal justice practitioners to discuss common concerns, share experiences and propose solutions in the fields of crime prevention and criminal justice. A key outcome of the 14th Crime Congress was the adoption of a political declaration that sets the United Nations (UN) Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice agenda for the next five years.

3.    Minister Teo delivered Singapore’s national statement which highlighted Singapore’s approach to crime prevention and called for intensified crime prevention efforts at the national, regional and global level. She also spoke on Singapore’s evidence-informed rehabilitation and reintegration practices, and how they have kept our recidivism rate low and stable.

4.    On the side-lines of the Crime Congress, Minister Teo virtually met with Ms Ghada Fathi Waly, Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna and Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and reaffirmed the strong and growing cooperation between Singapore and the UNODC in tackling transnational crime, in particular drugs, and in capability building.

5.    Mr T. Raja Kumar, Deputy Secretary (International and Training) of Ministry of Home Affairs delivered a virtual intervention at the Plenary of the 14th Crime Congress on Singapore’s efforts in tacking cybercrime and money laundering. He called for concerted action by the international community to strengthen international cooperation and tackle the rising threat of cybercrime.

6.    Singapore also participated actively in the special events and ancillary meetings of the 14th Crime Congress. Mr Hri Kumar Nair, Deputy Attorney-General, delivered a keynote speech on Singapore’s efforts to facilitate international cooperation in criminal matters, especially against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the high-level event entitled “Judicial Cooperation Networks: Launch of the South East Asia Justice Network”. Deputy Director (Correctional Rehabilitation Services) SPS Troy Thevathasan presented on Singapore’s rehabilitation efforts at an ancillary meeting of the Crime Congress organised by UNODC, entitled “Promoting prison-based rehabilitation programmes and post-release services to foster prisoners’ social reintegration”.