Between 11-13 September 2023 the Attorney General Office and the Law Reform Commission of Barbados are holding a series of workshops in Bridgetown as part of the ongoing co-operation with the Council of Europe and the CARICOM IMPACS.
Members of judiciary, magistracy, prosecutors, law enforcement and also Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology together with several service providers are participating in the discussions on the Cybercrime Bill and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill.
The main aim of this series of workshops, inviting stakeholders from across the spectrum, is to improve the knowledge on the envisaged provisions of the draft legislation, as well as to source feedback on it. It also offers the authorities of Barbados a chance to further receive more in-depth information on the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and benefits of acceding to this treaty.
The Attorney General Hon. Dale Marshall reaffirmed in his opening remarks that Barbados is on track for accession to the Budapest Convention: “As a matter of government policy, I can say that the Government is committed to seeing this legislation being brought swiftly to Parliament and we are also committed to ratifying the Budapest Convention.”
Moreover, Sir David Simmons, Chairman of the Law Reform Commission pointed out that “the Budapest Convention on cybercrime has served as a gold standard in respective legislation for states wishing to adapt their national legislation, but of course the Convention is also of inestimable value as a catalyst for capacity building and institutional strengthening”.
Through the Octopus Project, the Council of Europe remains ready to provide support to countries in the Caribbean region for legislative alignment with international best practices based on the Budapest Convention on cybercrime as a global standard, as well as for further capacity building. The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges voluntary contributions of the donors to this project.
Octopus Project webpage
Budapest Convention on Cybercrime