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CODE 18-77
Mr Aust
Legal Advisers
Reference....
NCD 253/68
то
HUD 285
AECEIVE
JAN 19703
INDEX
A
X
DRAFT UN CONVENTION ON ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING
1. In his minute of 22 August 1986 to Mr Farrand, Mr Fifoot offered the Legal Advisers' comments on the draft UN Convention on Illicit Drug Trafficking. Mr Chamberlain provided further comments, covering the draft final clauses, in his minute of 30 September to Miss Robson. Copies of these minutes are attached for ease of reference. Both sets of comments were passed to the Home office so that they could be taken into account by their representatives on the Expert Group.
2. I now attach a copy of a letter from Mr Cook in the Home Office enclosing a report of the first two meetings of the Inter-Governmental Expert Group which has been considering the draft. Mr Cook will be attending the third meeting of this Group in Vienna from 25 January to 5 February and has asked for any comments by 8 January on the reformulated articles (2, 2 bis, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11 bis, 12, 13 and 14) and for any further comments on the articles on which discussion is not yet complete (1, 3, 4, 5 and the preamble, the implementation measures and the final clauses).
3. Article 8, which was reformulated at the last meeting of the Group and to which Mr Cook refers in paragraphs 4 and 5 of his letter seems to be mainly a matter for discussion between the Home Office and the DTI. We do however have an interest in the question of the use of proceeds from drug traffickers' assets (paragraphs 6 and 7 of Mr Cook's letter) which arose in discussion of article 3 at the last Expert Group meeting, and I attach a copy of a minute from Mr Street ERD, (who are in the lead on this subject) which covers this. We agree with
his comments.
4. I should be grateful for any further comments which you may have, by 7 January please, either on these points or on the text of the draft Convention as a whole so that Mr Cook may take them into account at the forthcoming Vienna meeting.
5. I should also be grateful for any comments from Mr Martin in NTD on Article 4 dealing with extradition, which was also the subject of discussion at the last Expert Group meeting (paragraphs 114-134 of the attached report).
/6.