On 14 December 2021, the United Nations Legal Counsel, Mr. Serpa Soares, participated in a side-event during the Opening Week of the Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communication technologies 2021-2025. The Legal Counsel provided opening remarksat a panel discussion on the . The discussion, moderated by Professor Koh of Yale Law School, was convened by the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and supported by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and Microsoft Inc. The Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Izumi Nakamizu, also provided opening remarks.
For a year and a half, the has sought to complement the work of the Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security by convening global multi-stakeholder expert workshops on international law protections applicable in cyberspace. Through workshops, Oxford Statements and reports, the Process examines the concrete application of international law to particular objects of protection and methods of cyber operations. With each of its Statements signed by more than one hundred leading international lawyers, the Process has established itself as an important and meaningful initiative clarifying the application of international law to information and communications technology.