10. Towards a Victim-Centred Approach? Reflections on Existing Cybercrime Instruments and the Draft United Nations Convention on Cybercrime

Brenda Mwale, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria; email: [email protected]

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In recent years, increasing attention to cybercrime and its impacts on society has led to an unprecedented focus on the prosecution of offenders. Indeed, anticybercrime conventions such as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data provide a good framework for addressing cybercrime by setting out provisions on substantive criminal law, procedural law and international co-operation, which are essential for prosecuting offenders.


Yet, while these provide adequate frameworks, they barely focus on victims of cybercrime (those who suffer harm as a result of cybercrime). Unlike for traditional crimes, perpetrators of cybercrime do not require physical proximity to the victim, and they can anonymously reach a significant number of victims with limited detectability. As a result, the way in which cybercrimes occur and how their consequences manifest challenge the way we traditionally think about victims of crime.

This points to a need to specifically address the plight of victims of cybercrimes. Currently, negotiations on a binding international cybercrime treaty under the UN framework provide new hope for victims of cybercrime: the current draft not only recognises victims but also contains specific provisions relating to them. If adopted, the convention will be the first international cybercrime convention to adopt a victim-centred approach.