The Admissibility of Electronic Evidence in Court (A.E.E.C.): Fighting against High-Tech Crime—Results of a European Study
Fredesvinda Insa · Journal of Digital Forensic Practice · 2007
Electronic evidence has been used in most states in Europe for several years, although the obtaining, seizure, analysis, and presentation of electronic evidence before an adjudicator is carried out in different ways in each member state. In November 2005, a group of European multidisciplinary experts started to set out the different methods by which electronic evidence is adduced in the courts of sixteen member states 1 under the Admissibility of the Electronic Evidence (A.E.E.C.) project. Previous research on the electronic evidence in Europe is not well known and very fragmentary in nature because none were comparative studies. And none dealt with the topic “admissibility.” The A.E.E.C. project has been designed to provide a response to the current situation since the lack of knowledge in this field is hindering procedures to incriminate the offenders of cyber crime. The study has been financially supported by the European Commission in the Framework Program AGIS. The main objectives of the initiative were to understand the current regulatory situation and the practice and how could they be improved. Other goals were to identify the gaps found in the different regulations on the admissibility of e-evidence and create a European network for cooperation in proceedings and practices related to the admissibility. It is a novel and ambitious project that has been carried out by a team of multidisciplinary investigators: policemen, lawyers, sociologists, technicians, businessmen, academics, solicitors, and computer forensic experts.