United Nations
General Assembly
A/RES/55/63
Distr.: General
22 January 2001
Fifty-fifth session
Agenda item 105
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/55/593)]
55/63.
Combating the criminal misuse of information
technologies
The General Assembly,
Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 1 in which Member
States resolved to ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially
information and communication technologies, in conformity with recommendations
contained in the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of the substantive
session of 2000 of the Economic and Social Council, 2 are available to all,
Recalling also its resolution 45/121 of 14 December 1990, in which it
endorsed the recommendations of the Eighth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, 3 and noting in particular the
resolution on computer-related crimes, 4 in which the Eighth Congress called upon
States to intensify their efforts to combat computer-related abuses more effectively,
Emphasizing the contributions that the United Nations, in particular the
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, can make in the promotion
of more efficient and effective law enforcement and administration of justice and of
the highest standards of fairness and human dignity,
Recognizing that the free flow of information can promote economic and social
development, education and democratic governance,
Noting significant advancements in the development and application of
information technologies and means of telecommunication,
Expressing concern that technological advancements have created new
possibilities for criminal activity, in particular the criminal misuse of information
technologies,
1
See resolution 55/2.
See A/55/3, chap. III. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session,
Supplement No. 3.
3
Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana,
27 August–7 September 1990: report prepared by the Secretariat (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.91.IV.2), chap I.
4
Ibid., sect. C, resolution 9.
2
00 56317