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Part One. Article 20 205Rolling text (A/AC.254/4/Rev.5)“Article 15“Special investigative techniques“1. Each State Party shall, within its possibilities and under the conditions prescribedby its domestic law, take the necessary measures to allow for the appropriateuse of special investigative techniques, in particular controlled delivery, electronicor other forms of surveillance, and undercover operations, [by its competent authoritiesin its territory] for the purpose of effectively combating organized crime. 7“2. For the purpose of investigating the crimes [covered by this Convention][established in articles [...] of this Convention], States Parties are encouraged to make,when necessary, appropriate bilateral or multilateral arrangements for using such specialinvestigative techniques in the context of cooperation at the international level.Such arrangements shall be agreed upon and implemented in full compliance withthe principle of sovereign equality of States and shall be carried out strictly in accordancewith the agreed terms of those arrangements. 8“3. Decisions to use such special investigative techniques at the internationallevel shall be made on a case-by-case basis and may, when necessary, take into considerationfinancial arrangements and understandings with respect to the exercise ofjurisdiction by the States Parties concerned.“4. Decisions to use controlled delivery at the international level may [, withthe consent of the States Parties concerned,] 9 include methods such as interceptingand allowing the goods to continue intact or removed or replaced in whole or in part.”Notes by the Secretariat2. At its tenth session, the Ad Hoc Committee considered, finalized and approvedarticle 15, as amended following discussions among the delegations concerning whetherparagraph 1 was or was not mandatory. The last amendments are reflected in the final textof the convention, as included in the report of the Ad Hoc Committee (see A/55/383, sect.IV, draft resolution, annex I), that was submitted to the General Assembly for adoptionpursuant to resolution 54/126 of 17 December 1999.7The text of this paragraph was proposed by an informal group convened at the request of the Chairman at the fifthsession of the Ad Hoc Committee (see A/AC.254/L.92). One delegation noted that the proposal should be flexible, permitStates to take the measures necessary for the use of such techniques and encourage States to implement them without placingthem under an obligation to do so. One delegation was of the view that if this provision were to impose an obligation,the words “in particular” should be deleted, so that the obligation would not be left undefined or open-ended. Some delegationswere of the view that the formulation could be more binding and/or compelling. One delegation suggested revertingto the original proposal (see A/AC.254/4/Rev.4) and retaining the phrase “for the purpose of gathering evidence andtaking legal action against persons involved”.8Text proposed at the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Committee by China and Mexico, at the request of the Chairman,to consolidate paragraphs 2 and 2 bis previously contained in article 15 (see A/AC.254/4/Rev.1). Consideration should begiven to eliminating specific references throughout the text to “sovereign equality”, which duplicate the provision on thissubject contained in article 2, paragraph 3, and apply generally to obligations under the convention.9The words in brackets, used in the corresponding article in the 1988 Convention (article 11, paragraph 3), had beeninadvertently deleted from the text of the previous drafts of the convention.