Assessing the anticipated impact of the United Nations convention against cybercrime in India and beyond

Abstract

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) routinely fail to deliver timely digital evidence or secure cross-border offender accountability. The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (UNCC), adopted in December 2024, is the most significant multilateral response to this enforcement gap since the Budapest Convention. This paper critically assesses the UNCC's anticipated impact on transnational cybercrime policing, with focused emphasis on India's legal, institutional, and geopolitical position. Using a doctrinal and qualitative methodology, the study evaluates the Convention against four operational bottlenecks: jurisdictional conflict, evidence preservation, real-time data access, and extradition feasibility. The UNCC introduces meaningful procedural advances: 24/7 cooperation channels, expedited evidence preservation, and capacity-building provisions. Yet effectiveness remains contingent on the breadth of ratification, domestic implementation capacity, and political will across geopolitical divides. Definitional ambiguity and expanded surveillance powers risk enabling authoritarian overreach if unaccompanied by enforceable safeguards. For India, the Convention offers a strategic opportunity alongside serious governance challenges. Critical gaps persist in national cybersecurity strategy, state-level police consultation, and protection against politically motivated data requests. The paper concludes that the UNCC's legitimacy ultimately depends on enforceable human rights protections, genuine capacity-building, and robust accountability mechanisms across all ratifying states.