The Council of Europe organized on 27 – 28 February 2020 a legislative drafting workshop to assist with the finalization of Namibia’s cybercrime bill, with the coordinating support of Namibia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT). The activity drew a broad level of interest, with the attendance of some 70 participants, covering a wide spectrum of institutions and stakeholders, such as the offices of the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister; Parliament; MICT; criminal justice authorities; ministries of education, gender equality and child welfare; ministries of agriculture and land reform; internet and telecommunications providers; civil society groups. The event was opened by the British High Commissioner to Namibia, Ms. Kate Airey OBE, who highlighted UK’s strong commitment to assist Namibia in its efforts to protect its cyberspace and promote development and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s representative, Ms. Marie-Pierre Olivier.
The mission was organized at the request of the Namibian government, as a follow-up to the initial Council of Europe’s cyber security and cybercrime maturity assessment visit in May 2019, which was implemented together with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank. Namibia’s government is very keen to develop and implement national legislation in the areas of cyber security, cybercrime, and data protection in line with international legal frameworks, in part as a response to increased awareness of their exposure to cyber-attacks (NBC news, 18 February 2020) and the importance of a safe cyberspace for trade and development.
The activity reviewed the key elements of the Namibia’s cybercrime draft bill as compared to equivalent provisions of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. Other legislative approaches from relevant criminal justice systems were also reviewed and discussed to assist in the drafting process. Namibia’s draft bill was assessed at an advanced stage of development and hailed as a well thought and standard setting piece of legal writing. Recommendations were provided to bring it fully in line with the Convention and discussions were held on the way ahead towards Namibia’s accession to the Treaty.
This activity was organized joining resources with Cybercrime@Octopus project.
