ICTA co-hosts Cybercrime workshop with Council of Europe
Monday, 30 September 2013 00:58
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An important capacity building workshop on cybercrime and electronic evidence specifically for law-enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges will be held at Hilton, Colombo on 4 and 5 October 2013.
Jointly initiated by the Council of Europe and the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), this workshop will be a rare training opportunity for law enforcement in the area of cybercrime.
Putting the workshop in perspective, Chairman ICTA Prof. P.W. Epasinghe stated that: “South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and India have adopted a comprehensive legal framework on cybercrime based on the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. Other countries in the region such as the Maldives and Pakistan are in the process of doing so. In this context, new challenges crop up. One of these challenges is the ability of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges to implement such laws.”
The Council of Europe has also developed several concepts and materials that could help Sri Lanka and other countries increase the capacities of their criminal justice authorities. These include the following: (1) Electronic evidence guide (for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges), (2) 1st responders’ training pack (for law enforcement officers), (3) Basic judicial training course (for prosecutors and judges) and (4) Advanced judicial training course (for prosecutors and judges).
Elaborating on the aim of the two-day event ICTA Director/Legal Advisor Jayantha Fernando said: “The objective of the workshop is to make the training materials developed by the Council of Europe available to institutions in Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries. This will enable them to make them part and parcel of their training programs. The workshop thus mainly targets law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges and, in particular, representatives of judicial and law enforcement training institutions.”
Cybercrime and electronic evidence require wide international cooperation. Therefore the workshop will also feature a round table discussion for decision-makers on the benefits of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, ICTA Director/Legal Advisor noted.
The official inauguration will take place on 4 October at 9:30 a.m. and Chief Justice, Mohan Pieris, PC will be the Chief Guest.
