Octopus Cybercrime Community

Antigua and Barbuda adopted a specific Electronic Crimes Act in 2013, amended by the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act in 2018.

Section 2 of the Electronic Crimes Act (2013) defines access, damage, data, function and electronic database, device and system as well as service provider, subscriber and subscriber information, traffic data and unauthorised access.

The Electronic Crimes Act (2013) criminalises:

• Illegal access (section 3, (1), a)
• Illegal interception (section 3 (1), b and c)
• Data interference (section 3, (1), i)
• System interference (section 3 (1), e, f, g and h)
• Child pornography (section 2 (definition) and section 10)

The Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act in 2018 amended the criminalisation of:

• Misuse of devices (section 8)
• Computer related forgery (section 5)
• Computer related fraud (section 6)

The Electronic Crimes Act (2013) includes specific procedural measures, applicable to all investigations related to cybercrime, to crimes committed by the means of computer systems and to all criminal investigations where digital evidence is required. Part III on Investigations and Procedures on:

• preservation order (section 16),
• disclosure of preserved data order (section 17),
• production order (section 18), and amended by the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act of 2018
• powers of access, search and seizure for the purpose of investigation (section 19) and amended by the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act of 2018,
• real time collection of traffic data (section 20) and amended by the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act of 2018.

The Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda (1981) enshrines in its Chapter II “Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual” the following rights:

• Protection of right to life (section 4)
• Protection from deprivation of property (section 9)
• Protection of person or property from arbitrary search or entry (section 10)
• Provision to secure protection of the law (section 15)

The Telecommunications Bill of 2021 provides regulations regarding:

• Data protection (part XII),
• Access, search and seizure (section 130)
• Disclosure of preserved data (section 138)
• Limited use of disclosed data and information (section 140)
• Unlawful interception and disclosure of communication by a licensee or any officer, employee or agent (section 142)
• Harmful interference and unlawful access (section 147)
• Confidentiality and disclosure of personal information (section 155)

The Data Protection Act (2013) provides principles on privacy and data protection (part II) and rights of data subjects (part III).

The Electronic Evidence Act (2013) sets out the principle of admissibility of electronic evidence (part II).

The Copyright Act (2003) in its Part V on “Infringement of Rights” criminalises acts of infringing copyright.

The Criminal Procedure Act (1873).

The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (1993) provides rules between Antigua and Barbuda and Commonwealth countries (sections 7 and 19), and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment Act (2020) inserted provisions on the mutual assistance for other than Commonwealth countries (section 30B).

The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (1993) provides enabling powers for mutual assistance between Commonwealth countries (section 7). It was amended by the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Amendment) Act of 2020 to including countries other than Commonwealth countries (section 30B). The Attorney General is in charge of assistance in criminal matters. However, there are no specific provisions enabling international cooperation with respect to electronic evidence or associated specialised powers.

Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the International Telecommunication Union-IMPACT initiative.