The growth in the use and development of information and communications technologies (ICTs) go hand in hand with the rise in crimes committed against or by using computer systems. The Council of Europe approach to protect societies worldwide in the cyberspace is based on the implementation of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, complemented by programmes of assistance on capacity building for criminal justice authorities.
The importance of trainings on international cooperation on cybercrime for magistrates cannot be overemphasized. Not only that almost every form of cybercrime today has an international link, but the partners that need to be called upon are usually in other countries. The use of mobile smartphones is spread worldwide, and all magistrates should know that almost every click or swipe on those devices brings the investigation in an international context.
Sustainable Judicial Training programmes on international cooperation are the only effective manner of ensuring that judges and prosecutors have sufficient knowledge to fulfil their roles effectively. They need to learn how to quickly identify the foreign partners they will need to rely in solving their cases, and how to inquire them in the fastest way possible. This includes cooperation with third countries, international institutions (such as Europol, Eurojust, etc.) and private companies (Online Service Providers).
The iPROCEEDS-2 project organised the first round of online Specialised Judicial Training on International Cooperation with the aim to provide judges and prosecutors with updated knowledge of the currently available framework and practice for international cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence as provided by the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and the draft of the Second Additional Protocol to the treaty.
The course included legal as well as practical information about the subject matters and concentrated on how these issues impact the day-to-day work of judges and prosecutors.
The first two sessions took place in April and were organised for Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia.
iPROCEEDS-2 project webpage