The Parliament of Lebanon has adopted the draft law on cybercrime that will come into force in January 2019. Ten years ago already Lebanon started considering the benefits of joining the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. After adopting the legislation in line with the Budapest Convention, considering the strong capacities in place to address the issues of cybercrime and electronic evidence, it is very likely that the question of joining an international treaty on this matter will be included again on the political agenda. Therefore, CyberSouth, under the patronage of Prime Minister of Lebanon, Mr Haad Hariri, organized a workshop on the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime at Grand Sérail, in Beirut, on 16 November 2018.
The meeting gathered representatives from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, State Security, Internal Security Forces, Lebanese Armed Forces, Ministry of the Environment, Civil Service Boarder, Civil Defense, Ogero Telecommunication, Ministry of Telecommunications, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Planning, and Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The workshop was an open discussion and participants and experts addressed aspects on the content of the Budapest Convention and its benefits for the Parties, on the Arab Convention on Combating Information Technology Offence and on concerns and challenges for Lebanon.
CyberSouth project is confident that Lebanon is now fully aware of the content and functioning of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and existing international instruments for cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence and is ready to continue its support with the help of the European Union Delegation on this matter.
