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284 Travaux préparatoires: United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimedomestic legal system, to ensure the implementation of its obligations under thisConvention. 1“2. Each State Party may adopt more strict or severe measures than thoseprovided for by this Convention for the prevention and combat of transnationalorganized crime.”Notes by the Secretariat3. The article was revised at the informal consultations held during the ninth sessionof the Ad Hoc Committee and was recommended by the Chairpersons of the informalconsultations to the Ad Hoc Committee for consideration at its tenth session.4. At the informal consultations held during the ninth session of the Ad HocCommittee, it was indicated that discussion of this article might need to be reopened forthe purpose of making adjustments that might be deemed necessary in order to accommodateconcerns of federal States.5. At its tenth session, the Ad Hoc Committee considered, finalized and approvedarticle 23 ter, as amended with the insertion of a new paragraph 2. The text of this paragraphwas based on a proposal submitted by France at the tenth session of the Ad HocCommittee (see A/AC.254/5/Add.26). France suggested that that provision should be insertedas a new paragraph 4 of article 2 of the draft convention on the scope of its application,to read as follows:“(...) Paragraph 1 of this article shall not be construed as including the elementof the transnational nature of an offence in the description of offences establishedunder articles 3, 4, 4 ter and 17 bis or the element of the involvement of an organizedcriminal group in the description of offences established under articles 4, 4 terand 17 bis.”According to that suggestion, the proposed new paragraph made it possible, without alteringthe scope of application of the draft convention, as defined in paragraph 1 of article2, to indicate unequivocally that, while the existence of the elements of an offence’stransnational nature and an organized criminal group’s involvement was essential for theoperation of the convention, such elements were not relevant to the establishment of theoffences themselves. The United States suggested that the phrase “except to the extent thatarticle 3 [of the draft convention] specifies involvement of an organized criminal group”also be added.6. On the basis of these proposals the text of the proposed provision was reformulatedand it was decided, as a compromise, to incorporate it as paragraph 2 in article 23ter of the draft convention.7. The last amendments are reflected in the final text of the convention, as includedin the report of the Ad Hoc Committee (A/55/383, sect. IV, draft resolution, annex I),that was submitted to the General Assembly for adoption pursuant to resolution 54/126 of17 December 1999.1The formulation of this paragraph and in particular the provision concerning the “fundamental principles of its domesticlegal system”, required further consideration, including also in order to ensure consistency with other articles of the conventionwhere such a provision was made and where the intent was the same.