The year 2018 was marked by some important legislative initiatives in the United States and the European Union reflecting a new approach concerning Law Enforcement Agents’ (LEAs) access to electronic evidence. These initiatives were motivated by the significant legal challenges that the globalization of criminal evidence is creating for LEAs: a 2018 report by the European Commission found that “more than half of all investigations involve a cross-border request to access [electronic] evidence”. Considering that traditional instruments for cross-border cooperation [...]

The Cloud Act authorizes the U.S. government to enter into executive agreements with other nations, so long as listed privacy and human rights protections are built into those agreements. One prime requirement is that the non-U.S. government request for criminal evidence “shall be subject to review or oversight by a court, judge, magistrate, or other independent authority prior to, or in proceedings regarding, enforcement of the order.” This requirement of “review or oversight” by a judicial officer could split the [...]

E-Evidence negotiations in the EU Council are currently locked in stalemate. The clock is ticking, due to the upcoming European elections and the will of the Austrian Presidency to conclude the Council negotiations by December. Yet, the October 11th meeting of the European ministers of Justice showed, according to the Austrian presidency’s conclusion that: “There is a big divergence of opinions and it will be difficult to find a compromise that bridges these differences”.i The meeting made progress on another [...]

In the IAPP article Announcing the new Cross-Border Data Forum, Professors Christakis, Daskal, and Swire introduce the Cross-Border Data Forum. The article explains the aims and role of the CBDF, including its four announced goals: [...]