TIPOS DE NOMINACIÓN

The problems posed by identity-related crime have acquired a prominent place in the crime prevention and criminal justice agenda of the United Nations. The Bangkok Decla- ration on “Synergies and Responses: Strategic Alliances in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”,196 _{endorsed by General Assembly resolution 60/177 of 16 December 2005,} underlined the crucial importance of tackling document and identity fraud in order to curb organized crime and terrorism.197 _{Member States were also called upon “to improve} international cooperation, including through technical assistance, to combat document and identity fraud, in particular the fraudulent use of travel documents, through improved security measures, and encourage the adoption of appropriate national legislation”.198

193 _{Elston/Stein, International Cooperation in Online Identity Theft Investigations…, supra n. 10.}

194 _{Regarding the organized crime dimension, see McCusker, Transnational Organized Cybercrime: Distinguishing Threat}

From Reality, Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 46, page 273; Choo/Smith; Criminal Exploitation of Online Systems by

Organized Crime Groups, Asian Criminology, 2008, page 37 et seq.; Results of the second meeting of the Intergovernmental

Expert Group to Prepare a Study on Fraud and the Criminal Misuse and Falsification of Identity, supra n. 10, page 11.

195 _{For an overview about identity theft legislation in Europe, see Owen/Keats/Gill, The Fight Against Identity Fraud…,}

supra n. 159; Mitchison/Wilikens/Breitenbach/Urry/Portesi, Identity Theft, supra n. 138; Legislative Approaches To Identity

Theft: An Overview, supra n. 159; for an overview about the legislation in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom see: Discussion Paper Identity Crime, Model Criminal Law Officers’ Committee, supra n. 31, 2007; Regarding the criminalization in the OECD member states, see OECD Scoping Paper on Online Identity Theft, supra n. 13.

196 _{Bangkok Declaration, Synergies and Reponses: Strategic Alliance in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”, 2005,}

endorsed by General Assembly resolution 60/177 of 16 December 2005, available at: http://www.un.org/events/11thcongress/ declaration.htm (last visited October 2008).

197 _{Regarding the links between identity-related crimes and organized crime and terrorism, see Results of the second}

meeting of the Intergovernmental Expert Group to Prepare a Study on Fraud and the Criminal Misuse and Falsifica- tion of Identity, supra n. 10, page 11.

198 _{Bangkok Declaration, Synergies and Reponses: Strategic Alliance in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 2005,}

Pursuant to Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 2004/26, UNODC commissioned a study on “fraud and the criminal misuse and falsification of identity” which was released in early 2007.199 _{The study’s approach was broader than that followed} in the OECD context: first, the general term “identity-related crime” has been used to cover all forms of illicit conduct involving identity, including offences described, often not in a consistent manner, as “identity fraud” and “identity theft”; second, criminal acts related to identity theft were considered in their entirety to include their commission both online and offline, with more emphasis on sophisticated criminal schemes and patterns due to existing linkages to transnational organized crime and other criminal activities; and, third, identity-related crime was considered jointly with fraud given their close relation- ship and the specific directions of the ECOSOC mandate.

The Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Recommendations for a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy highlights the importance of developing tools to tackle identity theft in the fight against terrorism.200 _{In addition, the challenges related to identity} theft as well as the need for an adequate response are mentioned in different United Nations resolutions. An example is the Resolution on Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention201 _{which highlights identity theft as one of the emerging policy issues} that should be explored by UNODC. Based on ECOSOC Resolution 2004/26202 _and ECOSOC Resolution 2007/20,203 _{UNODC has established a group of experts to exchange} views on the best course of action in this field.204

OECD

In 1999, the OECD Council approved a set of guidelines designed to protect the electronic commerce.205 _{The measures in these guidelines can be used to develop strategies to prevent} identity-theft. Due to the soft-law character of the guidelines they do not contain approaches to criminalize specific aspects of identity theft. In 2003, the OECD developed another guideline on aspects of cross-border fraud.206 _{Similarly to the 1999 Guidelines, they do not} explicitly deal with an approach on how to criminalize identity theft but can be used to develop the broader framework necessary to effectively investigate and prosecute those offences. In 2008 the OECD published a “Scoping Paper on Online Identity Theft”207 _that in addition to providing a detailed analysis of different Internet-related identity theft scams,

199 _{The report containing the results and findings of the study on “fraud and the criminal misuse and falsification}

of identity” was submitted to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its sixteenth session (E/CN.15/2007/8 and Add. 1-3).

200 _{Uniting against Terrorism: Recommendations for a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, 27.04.2006, A/60/825, page 13.} 201 _{United Nations General Assembly Resolution, Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal}

Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity, A/RES/62/175, 2008, page 3.

202 _{ECOSOC Resolution 2004/26 on “International cooperation in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and}

punishment of fraud, the criminal misuse and falsification of identity and related crimes”.

203 _{ECOSOC Resolution 2007/20 on “International cooperation in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and}

punishment of economic fraud and identity-related crime”.

204 _{Reports related to the activities of the core group are available in the public domain. See First meeting of the}

Core Group of Experts on Identity-Related Crime Cormier Mont Blanc, Italy, 29-30 November 2007, available at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/organized-crime/Courmayeur_report.pdf (last visited October 2008); Second meeting of the Core Group of Experts on Identity-Related Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2-3 June 2008, available at: http://www.unodc. org/documents/organized-crime/Final_Report_ID_C.pdf (last visited October 2008).

205 _{OECD Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce, available at: http://www.oecd.}

org/dataoecd/18/13/34023235.pdf (last visited October 2008).

206 _{OECD Guidelines for Protecting Consumers from Fraudulent and Deceptive Commercial Practices Across Borders,}

available at: http://www.oecd.org/document/56/0,3343,en_2649_34267_2515000_1_1_1_1,00.html.

deals with aspects related to the victims as well as law enforcement schemes. Also in 2008, the OECD published the “Policy Guidance on Online Identity Theft.208 _{This guidance pro-} vides an overview about different strategies to respond to Internet-related identity theft.