Council of europe medicrime convention

The Council of Europe elaborated the first and only international criminal-law instrument to ensure that criminals do not take advantage of the crisis to undermine our health and our lives: the MEDICRIME Convention. Its goal is to safeguard public health through criminal law measures, in particular criminalising the falsification of medical products, protecting victims’ rights and promoting co-operation at all levels. Since its entering into force in 2016, 18 countries have ratified this Convention (three of which are African countries) and another 17 States from all over the world are signatories or their signature is under the procedure. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is posing unprecedented challenges to public health, the Council of Europe calls on governments to join the MEDICRIME Convention.