video links in the course of investigations and judicial procedures; and asset recovery. (b) In October 2011 following the Law Ministers’ Meeting, the Commonwealth Heads of Government, at their Meeting in Perth, Australia: (i) re-iterated their commitment to improve legislation and capacity in tackling cybercrime and other cyber inspired security threats, including through the Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative (CCI), which had recently been formed to assist developing countries to develop their institutional capacity in fighting cybercrime through the sharing of expertise from existing resources, with particular focus on the Commonwealth Model Law on Computer and Computer-Related Crime2 and also drawing from other treaties, conventions (including the Budapest Convention), legal frameworks, toolkits and guidelines; and (ii) re-iterated their support for the Commonwealth Connects programme which is encouraging greater effort from member countries to harness the benefits provided by technology, through promoting strategic partnerships, building ICT capacity and sharing ICT expertise; encouraged member countries to contribute to the Commonwealth Connects Special Fund3; and requested the Secretariat’s continued support for the programme. 5. The Group acknowledged the need for: (a) international co-operation and enforcement, including through the Budapest Convention, and other regional initiatives, and for collaboration to assist Commonwealth member states with capacity building and best practices to deal with transnational aspects of cybercrime; (b) the Commonwealth to leverage its unique advantages, building on the core competencies of individual Commonwealth agencies; (c) the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that its work does not duplicate but complements the work of other agencies working in the same area and to collaborate more effectively with, and take into account the experience of the Council of Europe and United Nations entities such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); and (d) recognition that although the Law Ministers’ Mandate is specifically directed to cybercrime and therefore to conduct that requires a crime prevention and criminal justice response, it is also concerned with cyber security and can include threats that are the result of errors and gaps in systems as well as those that are malicious. The Group has addressed its mandate with a primary focus on cybercrime whilst incorporating, as ancillary, several aspects that also contribute to enhanced cyber security. 6. The Group received information relating to the cybercrime laws of Australia, Canada, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom and the 2 Text available at: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BDA109CD2-5204-4FAB-AA7786970A639B05%7D_Computer%20Crime.pdf 3 A fund established by CHOGM in 2005 to implement activities within the Commonwealth Connects programme. 2