EU proposal for easier access to electronic evidence

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The EU Commission believes it must be easier for police and justice to access electronic evidence such as email and documents stored on the cloud.

 

The Commission has proposed a set of regulatory changes that will make it possible to access electronic evidence much more easily and quickly than before.

EU Justice Commissioner, Vera Jourová showed that approximately 85% of all criminal cases involve electronic evidence.

If the electronic evidence from another EU country is needed, it can take 120 days to access it. The average is 300 days if the evidence is in a non-EU country.

“The new rules will solve these issues and drastically reduce the time it takes to access the evidence,” said Jourová.

The new rules will, inter alia, make it possible to require that email and text message evidence is delivered directly from companies in other member countries, regardless of where the electronic evidence is stored.

“We can not allow criminals and terrorists to abuse modern electronic communications technology to conceal their criminal actions,’’ warned the European Commission Vice President, Frans Timmermans.

The proposals are part of a major security package presented by the EU Commission on Tuesday.

The Commission also proposed measures to secure identity cards better against counterfeiting, and a set of new bans on substances that can be used to make bombs.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today