The Justice Committee is seeking public input into its examination of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the Budapest Convention). The committee is specifically interested in the public’s views on the National Interest Analysis (linked below) and proposed legislative changes outlined in the analysis.

The Budapest Convention is an international treaty seeking to address internet and computer crime. It came into force in 2004 and currently has 65 members, predominantly from Europe, but also from Asia, North and South America, Australia, and the Pacific.

The convention deals with crimes committed via the internet and other computer networks, particularly infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. The convention also facilitates investigations of serious crimes where evidence is stored electronically, including terrorism, homicides, serious assaults, sexual assaults, frauds, and child exploitation.

The convention does this by aligning members’ laws on cybercrime, ensuring that members share similar search and surveillance powers for accessing electronic evidence, establishing common channels and protocols for cooperation, and facilitating the sharing of best practice and technical information.
For more information, please see the National Interest Analysis linked below.

Please note that under Cabinet Manual rules, the Government can take binding action to join the convention within 6 weeks (to 8 July 2021). The Justice Committee therefore intends to complete its work on the convention by that date. The committee is seeking submissions that specifically address the convention and its implementation in New Zealand law and may or may not hear oral evidence on the convention.

Tell the Justice Committee what you think

Make a submission on the treaty examination by midnight on Sunday 20 June 2021.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the treaty

· Read the National Interest Analysis

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates
 

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