Polish-drafted convention on fighting international crime signed yesterday

Over 150 countries signed yesterday in Palermo, Italy, a United Nations convention on prosecuting international crime, the draft of which had been prepared by Poland. "This is a war which the UN is declaring on international crime," said President Aleksander Kwaoniewski, present at the Palermo summit. International crimes are those which are committed in one country, but are prepared in a different one. The most important issues of the convention are the signatories' agreement on exchange of information, extradition and joint prosecution of crimes, said Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski. Poland presented to the UN the draft of the convention back in 1996 and an international commission then ironed out certain issues over the next four years. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.11)