Luxembourg, 12/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 April, EU27 justice ministers examined, in Luxembourg, the Commission's proposal for a directive dated 30 September 2010 relating to attacks against information systems. They aim to come closer to a possible agreement by June, Hungary's Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Tuesday 12 April.
The Commission's proposal aims to update European rules dating back to 2005. It above all defines criminal offences in the area of attacks against information systems and seeks to harmonise penalty levels for such offences, as penalty levels may change with aggravating circumstances. The proposal also includes penalties for the use of tools contributing to such offences, e.g. the use of stolen identities; and seeks to improve European criminal justice cooperation in this field.
Four points remained outstanding during discussions on Tuesday. These must be resolved in order to reach agreement in June. Thus, at the level of penalties, a majority of states were in favour of a minimum sentence of 2 years' imprisonment for such offences, the Hungarian minister said, although other member states would prefer penalties ranging from one to three years. The two other points still being looked at are the matter of legal competence and possible extra-territorial competence, as well as whether or not false identity assumed with a view to committing an offence should be included in the scope of the directive. All these points must be clarified in a working group by June.
Further discussion is to be held on the penalty to be applied in the case of aggravating circumstances, for example when offences affect critical infrastructure or when the authors of such attacks belong to organised criminal groups. On this point, the Commission suggested a minimum 5-year penalty but, according to one source, some member states wish to place aggravating circumstances in order of importance. For example, they want a differentiation to be made between those attacking one or more information systems and those found guilty of child pornography. These countries thus suggest that penalties should range from 3 to 5 years. (S.P./transl.jl)