The European Commission has proposed a series of new measures to facilitate better access to electronic evidence for police and judicial authorities.
Better access to electronic evidence will allow law enforcement officials in EU member states to pursue leads online and across borders. However, the EU has also reassured that the new rules will also account for the need to provide safeguards for the rights of all people involved.
Electronic evidence includes emails, documents stored in the cloud, text messages and app-based communications, all of which are used by law enforcement in almost every type of investigation, and often prove vital to counter-terror operations.
How will the new measures help?
According to the EU, more than half of all criminal investigations across the bloc include a request to obtain electronic evidence from a service provider based in another member state. Accessing this data currently involves a cumbersome process of judicial co-operation and mutual legal assistance. There is also significant fragmentation of the legal frameworks around evidence sharing.
For these reasons, around two thirds of crimes where cross-border electronic evidence requests are issued cannot be properly investigated or prosecuted. To combat this, the new proposals to create better access to electronic evidence will:
- Allow judicial authorities to request electronic evidence from a service provider in another member state;
- Oblige service providers to respond to requests within 10 days, or 6 hours in case of an emergency, rather than the existing deadline of 120 days;
- Ensure that service providers which operate in the EU comply with these rules, even if their headquarters are in a third country; and
- Provide legal certainty to businesses and service providers for handing over evidence to law enforcement.
The measures will also aim to improve security and safeguard rights by ensuring that many of these requests can only take place within the framework of criminal proceedings, and that all criminal law procedural safeguards will apply.
What did the European Commission say?
European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that communication technologies play an increasing role in criminal activity, and are therefore they are ever more important to law enforcement.
He explained: “Electronic evidence is increasingly important in criminal proceedings. We cannot allow criminals and terrorists to exploit modern and electronic communication technologies to hide their criminal actions and evade justice. There must be no hiding place for criminals and terrorists in Europe, online or offline.”
He added that the EU’s work will serve to make investigating and prosecuting criminal activity much easier: “Today’s proposals will put in place unprecedented tools enabling the competent authorities not only to gather electronic evidence quickly, efficiently across borders but also ensuring robust safeguards for the rights and freedoms of all affected.”
