Octopus Cybercrime Community

Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime is the main legal text related to cybercrime, both for substantive law and procedural powers, as well as basic provisions on international cooperation.

Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime provides for the majority of substantive law provisions of the Budapest Convention.

Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime provides very limited implementation of the procedural powers as required by the Budapest Convention, mostly addressing production orders and search and seizure.

According to a USA report on human rights practices (Section 5 - Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights), several bodies are functioning:

• the Ministry of Justice, who coordinates government efforts to improve respect for human rights, organise human rights training for government officials and address major human rights problems,
• the National Human Rights Commission (made up by civil society, media, religious groups, and the judiciary) that had a degree of independence. The Commission provided basic human rights training to police.

According to the same report of the US Department of State, child sexual exploitation of children and child pornography are prohibited by law, and authorities generally enforced the law (Art. 5559 of the Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018)

• Data Protection Law (Loi n°001/2011 relative à la protection des données à caractère personnel)
• Loi N° 026/2018 du 17/10/2019 portant réglementation des communications électroniques en République Gabonaise
• Constitution de la République Gabonaise

According to Global Organized Crime Index - Gabon, on the international level, Gabon has ratified many relevant international treaties pertaining to organized crime. Also, Gabon signed bilateral cooperation agreements with Togo and Benin, with the aim of strengthening law enforcement coordination against international trafficking networks. While on the domestic level, Gabon generally adopts relevant laws with respect to combatting organized crime but is weak with compliance and implementation.

Gabon is a signatory Party of the following treaties:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child :1753 (since 1994) and to its Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography :1753 (since 2007)
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed in 2004)
• United Nations Convention against Corruption (signed in 2003, ratified in 2007)

According to an assessment of the application of the UN Convention against corruption, the legal basis for mutual assistance judiciary in Gabon are the following:

• Loi 0003/2003 du 7 mai 2003, portant création, organisation et fonctionnement de la Commission nationale de lutte contre l’enrichissement illicite.
• Multilateral agreements and bilateral conventions for cooperation and mutual assistance, like the Judicial Cooperation Agreement between the CEMAC Member States of 2004 (CEMAC-coopération), the Franco-Gabonese Agreement (1963), and the Agreement between Gabon and Mali (2008)
• Gabon has confirmed the application of the mutual legal assistance provisions for the International Criminal Court (ICC) also to non-ICC related requests in line with the provision of article 46 of the Convention against Corruption.
• The provisions of the Convention could also serve as a legal basis for mutual legal assistance, though Gabon didn’t notify the Secretary-General regarding this.
• Reciprocity was used in the absence of a cooperation treaty ((Article 39 of LEI003/2003 and Article 56 of REGCEMAC).

Chapter 4 of Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime, art. 73-79 regulates the international judicial cooperation in matters of cybercrime

Central authority for MLA is the Ministry of Justice (according to art. 29 (1) from CEMAC-cooperation and Ordinance n°15/PR/2018 of 23 February 2018 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime (Titre 4 – De la cooperation judiciaire internationale, art. 75). Requests are sent and received on diplomatic means.

Gabon is part of 24/7 INTERPOL network, through its National Bureau Centre from Libreville, which uses both formal and informal communication means.

Gabon is also party of the 1999 Agreement on Cooperation in Criminal Matters between the Central African States Central African States (ICPO-INTERPOL).