The International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), the Octopus Project and the EU-CoE GLACY-e project resumed dialogue with criminal justice authorities on the possible practical implementation of the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention).

A new series of webinars was designed based on the outcomes of the successful initial series of five thematic webinars in 2021-2022 to exchange views and share experiences on the existing and new forms of co-operation for effective access to electronic evidence, as well as legal tools proposed by the Second Additional Protocol.

The focus this year is on three main themes: direct cooperation with providers and entities in other Parties; judicial international cooperation tools; cooperation in absence of applicable international agreements.

The first webinar held on 30 May 2024 brought together 130 participants from some 50 countries, criminal justice authorities and members of the International Association of Prosecutors, who actively engaged in the Q&A sessions and contributed to the views and experiences exchange.

The implementation of Article 6 (Request for domain name registration information), Articles 7 (Disclosure of subscriber information) and Article 8 (Giving effect to orders from another Party for expedited production of subscriber information and traffic data) was the focus of the discussion. Concrete examples of steps taken and challenges encountered in the process were shared by the panel members from the US, Chile, Dominican Republic, Canada, as well as Microsoft and ICANN. Upskilling criminal justice representatives on technical matters, through capacity building activities, was mentioned as a key action for effective implementation of the Second Additional Protocol on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence.

The next joint IAP, Octopus Project and GLACY-e webinar, focusing on Judicial international cooperation tools, is scheduled to take place end-September this year.