Law enforcement officers and prosecutors from 14 LATAM countries – parties or invited to adhere to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) – joined the discussions with representatives of Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Uber, Binance, Lemon Cash, in a regional workshop organized in Santiago de Chile on 13-14 November 2023, focused on strengthening cooperation between criminal justice authorities in the Latin American region and international providers of communication services active in the region.
Electronic evidence is becoming more common and significant to solving cases than traditional evidence, yet cross-border access to data continues to raise difficulties in criminal investigations, leading to lower conviction rates and, consequently, slower justice for victims. Stronger partnerships between authorities and service providers, built around a culture of trust, are becoming essential for ensuring the protection of users’ right to privacy, while supporting authorities to carry out criminal investigations, with proper safeguards, when the law has been breached.
The regional workshop "Enhancing public-private cooperation in Latin America on cybercrime and e-evidence" offered a platform for criminal justice professionals from the LATAM region and service providers to identify gaps and solutions to improve public-private cooperation on cybercrime. The event was supported by various partners active in the region such as INTERPOL, the United States Department of Justice and the Organisation of American States and enjoyed the participation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Both private, and public sector participants agreed on several lessons to be learnt, among which:
- The need to review and update national laws, and to accede to international treaties, such as the Budapest Convention and its Second Additional Protocol, as the cornerstone for a coherent approach to international cooperation.
- The added value of maintaining an open dialogue between authorities and service providers, aimed towards a more standardized approach to requirements, tools and templates for requesting e-evidence.
- The importance of ensuring continuous capacity building programs for law enforcement and prosecution services on means to obtain and manage electronic evidence in criminal proceedings.
The workshop was organized in partnership with the Public Ministry of Chile, one of the eight regional hub countries for capacity building on cybercrime of the GLACY-e joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
