(a) the number of Parties, so that a multilateral instrument is to be preferred to a bilateral one especially where the existing or prospective Parties include states with which regular co-operation is likely to be needed; (b) the comprehensiveness of the instrument in addressing the different aspects of an effective anti-cybercrime regime: the definition of criminal offences; procedural law; and mutual legal assistance and other forms of cross-border legal co-operation; (c) the practicality and realism of the instrument’s provisions: are they adequate to deal with the urgency of many international requests concerning cybercrime; and are they within the capacity of the intending Party; (d) whether the instrument creates binding obligations on its Parties or is merely aspirational in character; (e) the extent to which the instrument ensures that human rights and procedural safeguards are addressed; (f) whether the instrument carries with it support mechanisms, such as those maintained by several international organisations which arrange meetings of Parties enabling those operating the instrument on a day-to-day basis to reflect upon its operation, develop guidelines as to best practice, and perhaps issue agreed statements as to the interpretation of any provisions in the instrument which experience has shown to be unclear. 2.11 Investigators should not necessarily assume that because an offence or investigation involves cybercrime elements, they must use an instrument specific to cybercrime. Instruments dealing with corruption, terrorism, and trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances may all be applied to cyber-investigations where the underlying offences meet their respective substantive requirements. While not all cybercrime involves organised crime elements, much of it does, and in any case where cybercrime or other offences are ‘serious crimes’, ‘transnational in nature’ and involve an ‘organised criminal group’ the co-operation provisions of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention)16can be used if the countries involved are Parties to it. The Convention offences of participation in the activities of an organised criminal group (Article 5) and money-laundering (Article 6) may be particularly useful in scenarios where cybercrime and organised crime coincide. Article 29(1)(h) provides specifically for technical assistance in the techniques needed to investigate cybercrime based on the fact that the technologies are commonly used by organised criminal groups. The Commonwealth Model Law Genesis 2.12 The one instrument that has been developed specifically for Commonwealth member states is the Model Law on Computer and Computer-Related Crime, adopted by Law Ministers in 200217. The initiative for the creation of the Model Law came from Law Ministers at their 1999 Meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. At that Meeting, Law Ministers considered the impact of technology on various aspects of the law and one of the issues 16 U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention), A/RES/55/25, Annex I, in force 29 September 2003, U.N.T.S. 39574. 17Text available at: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BDA109CD2-5204-4FAB-AA7786970A639B05%7D_Computer%20Crime.pdf 27