Convention). The position of those who are already members of this convention was that no new treaty was required. However, the convention, which entered into force in 2004, has attracted significant criticism for being too eurocentric, enshrining a developed world bias regarding intellectual property and for being outdated. Importantly, this rift is not limited to national actors. The Budapest Convention has received significant criticism and support from international organisations. Support has been shown by organisations including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the European Union, Interpol and the Organization of American States (OAS), while the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has criticised the eurocentric approach and described the convention as ‘a little dusty’ (Vatis, 2010: p. 218). As a result of these disagreements there is a fragmentation of approaches to governance at an international level. Alongside these global responses, many international organisations render assistance to national governments in dealing with cybercrime through measures including harmonising laws; capacitybuilding; and providing operational support. Organisations, such as the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), UNODC, Interpol, CoE, ITU and OAS, provide capacity-building and operational resources through measures such as legislative drafting and review, training for law enforcement and legal professionals, support for investigations and digital forensics. The landscape of the international response to cybercrime is well populated, but also confused and contradictory. Although numerous international organisations seek to support their member C y b e r c r ime states, these efforts are not founded upon a single governmental framework at an international level. The Commonwealth response The Commonwealth has a distinguished history of working at the critical juncture of information technology and governance. In the 1990s COMNET, a joint initiative of the Maltese government and the Commonwealth Secretariat was established to help realise the transformational potential of information and communication technology for development. COMNET was also designated to lead the Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum (CIGF). The purpose of this initiative is to inform and engage stakeholders on public policy issues relating to internet governance. Alongside this, the Commonwealth Secretariat has continued in its general duties to support the development of rule of law capacity amongst member states. In 2011 the CIGF consulted on the appetite for a Commonwealthled initiative on cybercrime. Ultimately, this initiative was mandated by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2011 for the purposes of ‘improving legislation and capacity in tackling cybercrime and other cyberspace security threats’ (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2011). As a result of consultations the Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative (CCI) was created in 2011. The role that heads of government believe the Commonwealth should play in this area has continued to develop. At CHOGM 2013 it was noted by the heads of government that: ‘The Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative and the recent endorsement of its methodology by senior officials of Commonwealth Law Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 99 Michelangelus / Shutterstock.com
CEP template 2012
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