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was available. In determining the scope and content of such a convention, the internationalcommunity could draw on the 1988 Convention, but should be able to come up withnew and more innovative and creative responses.The Working Group recognized that it was desirable to develop a convention thatwould be as comprehensive as possible. In that connection, several States indicated thattheir remaining reservations on the effectiveness and usefulness of a convention were contingentupon its scope of application and the measures for concerted action that such aninstrument would include. Several States stressed the importance they attached to thenature of a convention as a framework instrument. One difficult issue would be arrivingat an acceptable definition of organized crime. It was indicated, however, that that issuewas not insuperable, especially in the presence of a strong and sustained political will.Several States were of the view that the definition was not necessarily the most crucialelement of a convention and that the instrument could come into being without a definitionof organized crime. In that connection, it was also suggested that the phenomenonof organized crime was evolving with such rapidity that a definition would limit the scopeof application of a convention by omitting activities in which criminal groups mightengage. Other States felt that the absence of a definition would send the wrong signalregarding the political will and commitment of the international community. In addition,avoiding the issue would eventually create problems regarding the implementation of aconvention. In view of all the above, those States considered that concerted efforts toarrive at a solution should be made. It was suggested that a first step towards a definitionmight be to use the definitions of offences contained in other international instruments.It was agreed that the work required in connection with the definition could notbe carried out by the Working Group but should be undertaken by governmental expertsat a future time. There was also discussion about whether, in elaborating the definition,the focus should be on the transnational aspects of organized crime or on organized crimein general. It was pointed out that the mandate of the Commission was related to organizedtransnational crime but that the issue required further serious consideration in thecontext of determining the overall scope of a convention.In the context of the ensuing discussion on whether such a convention should includea list of offences, some States expressed their support for the inclusion of terrorist acts insuch a list. Many States were of a contrary view, recalling the initiatives currently underway in the United Nations and other forums on terrorism and the conclusions of theCommission at its fifth session.The Working Group agreed that it would be useful to focus on widely accepted constituentelements of organized crime. In the discussion that ensued, the elements identifiedincluded some form of organization, continuity, the use of intimidation and violence, ahierarchical structure of groups, with division of labour, the pursuit of profit and the exerciseof influence on the public, the media and political structures.The Working Group decided that the best way to proceed for the purpose of advancingthe issue was to seek common ground, utilizing as many previous contributions as possibleand building on the positive experience and valuable work done in other forums, suchas the European Union and the Senior Experts Group on Transnational Organized Crimeof the Political Group of Eight. The draft United Nations framework convention againstorganized crime (annex III to the report) was a useful point of departure and a good basisfor further work.In that connection, the Working Group decided to discuss matters related to internationalcooperation in criminal matters that would form an essential part of an internation-xxi