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Retour Conference on e-evidence and data protection in criminal matters in the Euro-Mediterranean Region

In close coordination with the French Ministry of Justice and under the French Presidency to the EU Council, the EuroMed Justice Programme organised the “Conference on e-evidence and data protection in criminal matters in the cross-Euro-Mediterranean region”. The event took place in Lyon, France between 31 May – 2 June, aiming to strengthen the capacity of criminal justice authorities of the European Union Member States and South Partner Countries (SPCs) to fight serious and organised crime through lawful and efficient collection of electronic evidence outside national jurisdictions, in compliance with human rights standards.

The event reunited criminal justice practitioners and experts from SPCs, EU Member States, EU Agencies (Eurojust, EJN, Europol, CEPOL), European Commission, the SIRIUS project, as well as International Organisations (SELEC/SEEPAG, UN-CTED, Council of Europe).

The discussions focused on the EuroMed Justice Programme (especially the data protection and e-evidence component), the European perspective on data protection and cross-border judicial co-operation (especially challenges and opportunities), the French experience in the cross-Mediterranean judicial co-operation, the South Partner Countries’ perspective on cross-border co-operation (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine*), International and EU standards, approaches and policies on cross-border e-evidence collection, as well as data protection in criminal matters.

On behalf of the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC), two presentations were delivered by the Head of Operations, on international standards on collecting e-evidence and international co-operation, as well as on the capacity building support provided by the Council of Europe. Current challenges, as well as solutions introduced through the Convention on Cybercrime and the Second Additional Protocol were highlighted, alongside the tools and guides developed by the Council of Europe (available upon request on the Octopus Platform).

The Convention on Cybercrime and its Second Additional Protocol were referenced on several other occasions also by the representatives of the International organisations and EU agencies as being the most relevant standards on cybercrime and e-evidence legislation, with the new Protocol being acknowledged for its novelty to offer legal tools for obtaining direct access to data located in foreign jurisdictions and speed up the co-operation between countries.

Against this background, countries were encouraged to implement these international standards and join this community.

Eurojust: EuroMed Justice Programme