On Thursday, 27 March, in Strasbourg, Minister of Justice Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Alain Berset, signed on behalf of Latvia the Second Additional Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation and Disclosure of Electronic Evidence to the CoE Convention on Cybercrime[1]. By signing this international treaty, Latvia commits to take the necessary steps to facilitate faster and more effective cybercrime investigations and international cooperation in cybercrime investigations, thereby strengthening the protection of the state and citizens against digital threats.
"By acceding to the Treaty and putting it into practice soon, Latvia joins the ranks of countries that are aware of the growing cyber threat and the need to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime. In today's digital environment, where information and communication technologies are evolving rapidly, cybercrime not only threatens individual security, but also the rule of law and democratic values. Latvia, as a state governed by the rule of law and a democracy, is committed to providing its citizens with effective protection against digital threats, promoting effective criminal investigations and prosecutions, and achieving justice for the victims of cybercrime."
The Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention regulates cooperation such as:
- Requests for domain name registration information;
- Disclosure of subscriber information;
- Expedited exchange of subscriber information and traffic data;
- Expedited disclosure of stored computer data in emergency situations;
- Emergency mutual assistance;
- Use of videoconferencing;
- Establishment of joint investigation teams and conduct of joint investigations.
The Second Additional Protocol also contains a data protection framework with basic requirements to ensure data protection standards, given that the Parties to the Budapest Convention that may accede to the Second Additional Protocol are not only from Europe but from all regions of the world with different data protection standards.
By signing the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention, Latvia joins the 48 Member States that have already signed the Protocol.
It should be noted that, following the signature of the Second Additional Protocol, the draft law "On the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence" will be submitted to the Saeima for consideration.
[1] The Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime on enhanced cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence is available here.