DigitalRights

What is the project about?

DigitalRights – new technologies for criminal law

The project aims to bolster the practical application of the EU directives on procedural rights for suspects and accused persons involved in criminal proceedings in cases where the penal law is confronted with the use of new technologies.

Digital Rights focuses on two main aspects of the procedural rights of suspects and accused individuals in criminal proceedings:

Accusations for crimes covered by the Budapest Convention;
Accusation for other crimes where e-evidence and investigations based on digital forensics are at the centre of the prosecuting and trial actions. More specifically, it aims to:
– Study how key EU directives on procedural rights have been transposed into national legislation across MSs involved in the project and identify gaps and inconsistencies in the implementation of these directives when crimes covered by the Budapest Convention are at the core of the trial or e-evidences have been presented, or digital forensics techs have been employed during the investigations.
– Assess the risks related to the practical applications of the directives in each country involved in relation to provisions of the Stockholm’s Roadmap and identify mitigation measures for each country in relation to the risks identified.
– Develop soft guidelines with an EU view concerning the rights defined by Directives(EU) 2016/1919, 2013/48/EU and
2012/13/EU in relation to:
a) Rights of the accused persons in transnational digital perquisitihons with the use of procedures provided by
Dir.2014/41/EU;
b) Deployment of investigative tools like trojan-horses and GPS tracking;
c) Accusations based on access to multi tenant repository, such as clouds or virtual servers, or database containing massive data, in relation to the principles of proportionality and the jurisprudence on data retention as set by the EU Court.
Provide knowledge building activities to practitioners and policymakers, respectively on Risk Assessment & Mitigation Plans for practitioners, and Soft Guidelines for policymakers.

This project is co-funded by the European Union

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Details

Status: Ongoing

What is the role of the IPoS?

In the DigitalRights project the IPoS as the implementing department of the HfÖV, together with the partners, will study how key EU directives on procedural rights have been transposed into national legislation across Member States involved in the project and identify gaps and inconsistencies in the implementation of these directives when crimes covered by the Budapest Convention are at the core of the trial or e-evidences have been presented, or digital forensics technologies have been employed during the investigations. The partners will research the current status, identify gaps and needs with desk research and questionnaires. The consortium will also create a European network of experts and practitioners, which will be engaged in several project activities, implemented by the partners, such as Workshops on specific EU Directives and develop soft guidelines on legislative implementation, which will be disseminated through trainings for key users. The project will organize a conference on risk assessment and mitigation plan for practitioners as well as panels on the guidelines on legislative implementation for policymakers.

Objectives

Objective 1: Implement the project within the framework of the Grant Agreement
Objective 2: Assess the risks related to the practical applications of the EU directives in each country involved when crimes covered by the Budapest Convention are at the core of the trial or e-evidences have been presented and/or digital forensics technologies have been employed during the investigations.
Objective 3: Develop soft Guidelines with an EU view concerning the rights defined by DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/1919, DIRECTIVE 2013/48/EU and DIRECTIVE 2012/13/EU
Objective 4: Provide knowledge building activities to practitioners and policymakers, respectively on Risk Assessment & Mitigation Plans for practitioners, and Soft Guidelines for policymakers.
Objective 5: To communicate, disseminate and exploit the project results.

Type of people benefiting from the project

Judges
Lawyers
Courts
members of judiciary police
EU Agencies
Prosecutor offices
Forensic experts
LEAs
Policy Makers

Expected results

Result/Impact/Outcome 1: Improved knowledge of the legislation and administrative practices related to specific provisions of the EU acquis regulating the rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings, and increased capacity of national practitioners to address issues related to such rights.
Result/Impact/Outcome 2: Strengthened cooperation and exchange of information between competent national authorities, NGOs and professional organisations in relation to the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime.
Result/Impact/Outcome 3: Harmonisation of the administrative practices applicable in relation to the relevant legislation in different Member States.
Result/Impact/Outcome 4: Reduced risks of breaches of fair trial rights.
Result/Impact/Outcome 5: Compatibility of the national legal framework and regulations linked to the rights of persons suspected or accused in criminal proceedings with EU acquits on procedural rights.