The inconsistency and shortcomings of legislation and the lack of resources and experts are just some of the challenges that prevent the judiciary and investigative authorities from adequately responding to criminal acts in the digital space.
Despite this, significant progress has been made in the last period, and soon we can expect the first verdicts in the cases in which the evidence obtained through Sky ECC and ANOM encrypted applications was used, it was concluded at the professional seminar “Cybercrime Criminal Proving and Electronic Evidence”, which was held in Sarajevo.
The AIRE Center and the Center for the Education of Judges and Prosecutors of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina(FBiH), with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom (UK), gathered more than 50 representatives of key institutions of the judicial chain, i.e. courts, prosecutor’s offices, police, and experts from BiH.
”Encrypted applications are available to everyone and already greatly facilitate the exchange of information and trade in illegal products, such as narcotics and weapons, ” warned Vahidin Djaltur, court expert and expert in digital forensics.
Court proceedings already use information obtained through encrypted applications SKY ECC and ANOM, but in the meantime new ones have appeared in use, such as Cyphr and Cyber Dust.
With the adoption of the State Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities, an important step was taken in harmonizing with European Union (EU)standards.
“These changes will significantly affect the prevention of money laundering and terrorist activities, however, it is a preventive law, which is not a procedural law that could be directly applied in the criminal legislation, but it can represent guidelines regarding the necessary amendments and changes to the criminal legislation in BiH on the issue of defining virtual currencies, as well as cryptocurrencies,” explained Hrstic.
In recent years, electronic evidence obtained through international legal aid has been increasingly used in criminal proceedings, explained Darko Soldat, Prosecutor of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Canton Sarajevo (CS), and pointed out that some courts have already accepted this evidence as legal, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
