The Government of Uganda through the European Union and Council of Europe has obtained support to assist Uganda harmonize legislation on Cybercrime and electronic evidence towards Ratification of the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime.
The convention is an international treaty that seeks to address Internet and Computer Crime by harmonizing national laws on cybercrime. Furthermore, improving national capabilities for investigating such crimes, and increasing cooperation on investigations.
The first series of the support included an initial consultative meeting with the task team on the convention and an analysis of the existing legal and environmental framework.
The task team includes representation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda Police Force, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Uganda Law Reform Commission, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and NITA-U.
The Council of Europe team was led by Matteo Lucchetti who commended the work done by the task team in the preparations for the Ratification. He shared, ‘the convention will serve as a guideline for Uganda as you embark on improving your national legislation and provides a framework for international cooperation between countries’ law enforcement agencies, so critical to cybercrime investigation and prosecution.’
Hon. Vincent Bagiire, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, asked the task team to utilize the opportunity to harmonize the legislature on Cybercrime with international best practice in particular the convention.
“Benchmarking against the convention will go a long way in ensuring that as we digitize the nation, we have robust and secure legislation that will safeguard Ugandan citizens’ digital transactions,” he said.
Once the ratification process is concluded, Ugandan law enforcement agencies will be ably equipped to carry out investigations of any crime facilitated by the use of technology.
The Task Team will now begin the consultation process with key stakeholders to inform the ratification process.[related-posts]
