GLACY+ project, a joint project of the European Union and Council of Europe teamed up with the US Department of Justice (USDoJ) to support the current national efforts to align the Maldivian legal framework on cybercrime and electronic evidence to the provisions of the Budapest Convention.

As part of the initiative, on 26-27 April, representatives from the Prosecutors’ General Office, Attorney General Office and Maldivian Police Service actively engaged with Council of Europe experts and USDoJ representative in discussing the key areas of legislative improvement to be addressed in the new Cybercrime Bill.

The workshop’s discussions were enhanced by the presentation delivered by Mr. Jayantha FERNANDO, Sri Lanka’s CERT Director and General Counsel of the Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency, who provided a regional perspective on becoming a Party to the Budapest Convention, highlighting the critical importance and practical impact of joining the Convention in addressing such inherently borderless crimes.

Support for developing Maldives’ cybercrime and electronic evidence related legislation will continue with the organization of multiple online briefings between the Council of Europe experts and the Maldivian drafting teams, currently engaged in developing and updating a Cybercrime Bill and the Evidence Act.