Cabo Verde - Octopus Cybercrime Community

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Status regarding Budapest Convention

Status : Party Declarations and reservations : N/A See legal profile

Cybercrime policies/strategies

The National Strategy on Cybersecurity, a Estratégia Nacional para a Cibersegurança, was approved on 11 February 2016. The strategy is a four-year action plan on cybersecurity in Cabo Verde. The document identifies priorities and objectives to be achieved by 2020, one of which concerns the development of appropriate legislation on cybercrime, as well as mechanisms for an immediate response to cyber incidents.

The document also establishes a National Center on Cybersecurity, Núcleo Nacional de Cibersegurança, responsible for the implementation of the National Strategy on Cybersecurity. The Center has to present a report to the government on its progress towards the full implementation of the strategy by 31 March 2020.

The resolution n° 21 of 7 March 2016 creates the Commission on cybercrime composed of stakeholders from different sectors. One of the responsibilities of the Commission is the development of a strategic plan for the implementation of the National Strategy on Cybersecurity.

Cybercrime legislation

State of cybercrime legislation

Law n°8/IX/2017, which establishes substantive and procedural penal procedures, as well as international cooperation dispositions in on penal matters, regarding cybercrime and the collection of electronic evidence, was adopted by National Assembly of Cabo Verde in November 2016 and entered into force in March 2017. This law has been developed in line with the National Strategy on Cybersecurity and the provisions of the Budapest Convention. It has a consistent substantive component related to cybercrime and proposes a number of detailed provisions of the procedural law.

Substantive law

The law on cybercrime starts with provisions of substantive criminal law (from Article 2 to Article 10). It contains initial definitions such as computer data, traffic data, service provider etc in the Article 2 and continues in the next 8 Articles with a catalogue of criminal offenses: computer fraud (Article 3) computer damage (Article 4), completed by Article 5 – computer sabotage, illicit access (Article 6) illicit interception (Article 7), misuse of device (Article), child pornography (Article 9), sextortion (Article 10). Article 11 foresees criminal liability of legal persons, while Article 12 refers to the confiscation by the state of the devices, materials used in cybercrime acts.

Procedural law

The third chapter of the cybercrime law is dedicated to the procedural dispositions. This chapter puts in place several procedural tools as following: expedite preservation of data (Article 14), disclosure of traffic data (Article 15), production order (Article 16), search of computer data (Article 17), seizure of computer data (Article 18), seizure of email and communications records of similar nature (Article 19), communication interception (Article 20) and undercover investigation (Article 21).

Safeguards

The Constitution of Cabo Verde guarantees several fundamental human rights and freedoms.

Article 15 of the Constitution recognizes the inviolability of rights, liberties and guarantees. These right, liberties and guarantees have to be interpreted and integrated in accordance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 17). Access to justice and the principle of equality are guaranteed (Article 21 and Article 23). The act ensures the right to life, physical and moral integrity (Article 27), the right to freedom (Article 28), the right to freedom and personal security (Article 29), the right to identity, to personality, to a good name, to an image and privacy (Article 40), the inviolability of domicile (Article 42), the inviolability of correspondence and telecommunications (Article 43), the use of computer resources and protection of personal data (Article 44) and freedom of expression and information (Article 47).

Related laws and regulations

Law no. 30 / VII / 2008, of 21 July on criminal investigation

Law no. 133 / V / 2001 of 22 January, substantially revised by Law 41 / VIII / 2013 on data protection

Decree-Legislative 7/2005, of 24 November

Decree-Law no. 33/2007 of 24 September on the use of digital signatures

Specialised institutions

The independent regulator in the sector, the National Communications Agency (ANAC), was created by the law Decree 31/2006 of June 19th. One of the priorities of the Agency is to ensure the development of the ICT sector. In this regard, cybersecurity and cybercrime remain among the main focus areas of the ANAC.

The National Center on Cybersecurity which is a high-level unit whose mission is to coordinate, accompany and monitor, in a transversal way, the process of implementing the National Cybersecurity Strategy.

International cooperation

Competent authorities and channels

Law n°8/IX/2017 has a chapter on International cooperation (Chapter IV). Within this chapter, the framework of the International Cooperation in the sphere of cybercrime is defined, along with the permanent contact point for international cooperation, in the competence of the Public Ministry. Certain provisions such as the expedite preservation and disclosure of computer data in international cooperation (Article 24), refusal reasons (Article 25), computer data access in international cooperation (Article 26), cross-border access of computer data stored when publicly available or with consent (Article 27) and communication interception in international cooperation (Article 28) are completing the chapter.