Today, 20 June 2024, in the presence of the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mr Bjørn Berge, and within the framework of the 30th plenary session of the T-CY, Benin, Fiji and Kiribati acceded to the Convention on Cybercrime (ETS 185). With these new accessions, 75 States are now Parties, two have signed it and 18 have been invited to accede to the Convention.
Additionally, Benin acceded to the First Additional Protocol to the Convention on cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems (ETS 189). The Protocol entails an extension of the Cybercrime Convention’s scope, including its substantive, procedural and international cooperation provisions, so as to cover also offences of racist or xenophobic propaganda. This first Protocol now has 36 Parties.
Lastly, Czechia and Sierra Leone signed the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence (CETS 224). With these, 44 States have signed it, and an additional 2 are already Parties.
The Second Additional Protocol on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence was opened for signature on 12 May 2022 within the framework of an international conference in Strasbourg, France. This legal instrument offers innovative tools, such as direct requests to registrars in other jurisdictions to obtain domain name registration information, direct co-operation with service providers in other jurisdictions to obtain subscriber information, more effective means to obtain subscriber information and traffic data through government-to-government co-operation, expeditious co-operation in emergency situations, joint investigation teams and joint investigations, video conferencing, with a strong system of human rights and rule of law safeguards, including for the protection of personal data.