Criminal Justice and Digital Evidence in Cyberspace

Criminal Justice and Digital Evidence in Cyberspace

Almost all types of crime leave digital traces that can serve as evidence in court proceedings. Often it will be the only evidence law enforcement authorities and prosecutors can collect. Frequently such evidence is stored on cloud servers in foreign jurisdictions. More than half (55%) of all criminal investigations today include a cross-border request to obtain electronic evidence held by service providers based in another State. To obtain such data, judicial cooperation and mutual legal assistance is needed, but the process at present is slow and cumbersome. Almost two-thirds of crimes where electronic evidence is held in another country cannot be properly investigated or prosecuted, mainly due to the time it takes to gather such evidence or due to fragmentation of the legal framework. Nowadays, cyber technology is shaping a totally different civilisation: digitalisation is changing the world faster than the laws and justice can evolve. The on-going process of digitalisation of economies and societies is expanding and deepening.