Octopus Cybercrime Community

North Macedonia ratified the Convention on Cybercrime and its Additional Protocol:

Law on ratification of the Convention on Cybercrime (Official Gazette No. 41 from 24.06.2004);

Law on ratification of Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems (Official Gazette No.56 from 05.06.2005).

The provisions of the Budapest Convention were transposed in the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code:

Law on Criminal Code, Official Gazette No .37/1996, 80/1999, 4/2002, 43/2003, 19/2004, 81/2005, 50/2006, 60/2006, 73/2006, 87/2007, 7/2008, 139/2008, 114/2009, 51/2011, 51/2011, 135/2011, 185/2011, 142/2012, 143/2012, 166/2012, 55/2013, 82/2013; 14/14, 27/14, 28/14, 41/14, 115/14, 132/14, 160/14, 199/14, 196/15, 226/15, 97/17 and 248/18)

Law on criminal procedure, Official Gazette No.150/2010, 100/2012

The substantive provisions of the criminal acts of cybercrime are contained in the Criminal Code and concern the following:

Article 122 - Definition of payment card, child pornography, computer system and computer data

Article 144 - Endangering security

Article 147 - Violation of confidentiality of letters or other parcels

Article 149 - Misuse of personal data

Article 149-a - Prevention of access to a public information system

Article 157 - Violation of an author's right and related rights

Article 157a - Violation of the right of the technical specially of protected satellite signal

Article 157 b - Piracy of audiovisual products

Article 157c - Piracy of phonograms

Article 193 - Showing pornographic materials to a child

Article 193 a - Production and distribution of child pornography

Article 193 b - Enticement to intercourse or other sexual acts on a minor under 14 years

Article 251 - Damage and unauthorized entering in a computer system

Article 251a - Production and spreading of computer viruses

Article 251b - Computer fraud

Article 271 - Making, procuring or selling counterfeiting means

Article 274 b - Issuing a bad check and abuse of a credit card

Article 286 - Violation of the right of registered or protected invention and topography of integrated circuits

Article 379 a - Computer forgery

Article 394 D - Dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems.

Criminal Procedure Code provides for measures and actions that apply specifically to investigation of cybercrime as well as measures and actions applicable to conventional crime:

Article 184 - Search of a computer system and computer data

Article 198 - Temporary seizure of computer data

Chapter XIX refers to special investigative measures, Article 252 mentions:

• monitoring and recording of the telephone and other electronic communications
• secret access and search of computer systems
• inspection of telephone or other electronic communications.

Article 287 (8) - The public prosecutor may request subscriber data in the investigative phase

Basic freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen, recognized in international law and set down in the Constitution is one of the fundamental values of the constitutional legal order in The Republic of North Macedonia.

Title II of the Constitution guarantees basic freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen, among which:

Article 16 – Freedom of expression and free access to information

Article 17 - Freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and other forms of communication

Article 18 - Security and confidentiality of personal information

Article 25 – Right to privacy of his/her personal and family life

Article 26 - Right to the in violability of the home.

The Criminal Procedure Code provides for safeguards in the application of procedural powers. For example, Chapter XIX on special investigative measures specifies that these should be applied as a last resort measure, enumerates the categories of crimes to which these may be applied, identifies the persons against whom special investigative measures may be ordered, specifies the duration of the measures, the authorisation of the measures, as well as the procedure for informing the concerned person, termination of special investigative measures and destroying collected information if it is not relevant for the procedure.

Chapter XVII, measures for locating and safeguarding persons and objects-article 181 (2), article 184 of the Criminal Procedure Code, are referring to investigative measures required for searching a computer system and computer data.

According to Article 256 of the Criminal Procedure Code monitoring and recording of the telephone and other electronic communications and secret access and search of computer systems is authorised by the preliminary procedure judge with a written order upon an elaborated motion by the public prosecutor. Inspection of telephone or other electronic communications is ordered by the public prosecutor with a written order.Basic freedoms and rights of the individual and citizen, recognized in international law and set down in the Constitution is one of the fundamental values of the constitutional legal order in The Republic of North Macedonia.

Law on Electronic Communications, Official Gazette No.13/2005, 14/2007, 55/2007, 98/2008, 83/2010, 13/2012, 59/2012, 123/2012, 23/2013

Law on Interception of Communications, Official Gazette No.121/2006, 110/2008, 4/2009, 116/2012

Law on Electronic Commerce, Official Gazette No.133/2007, 17/2011

Law on Electronic Management, Official Gazette No.105/2009, 47/2011

Law on Litigation, Official Gazette No. 79/2005, 110/2008, 83/2009, 116/2010

Law on Data in Electronic Form and Electronic signature, Official Gazette No.34/2001, 98/2008

Law on Personal Data Protection, Official Gazette No. 7/2005, 103/2008, 124/2008, 124/2010, 135/2011, 43/2014, 153/2015 and 99/2016.

Law on International Cooperation in Criminal Matters (Law No. 07-3754/1, dated 14 September 2010).