On Wednesday 15 January, the European Police Cooperation Agency, Europol, and the European Union’s agency for judicial cooperation, Eurojust, announced the third phase of the SIRIUS project (see EUROPE 13535/10) for cross-border access to electronic evidence.
The aim is to support law enforcement and judicial authorities and strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors to improve the effectiveness of criminal investigations in an increasingly digital legal environment.
SIRIUS supports more than 8,500 competent authorities in 50 countries, including all EU Member States and 220 service providers.
Phase 3 will lead to the development of investigative tools, the organisation of strategic events and the strengthening of authorities’ capacities to exploit the new instruments provided for in the 2023 European legislative framework on electronic evidence (see EUROPE 13074/15).
It will also extend its geographical reach by improving cooperation with third countries that are particularly important for the implementation of the new legislation.
All these developments will contribute to the fight against all types of crime, with a particular focus on organised crime and terrorism.
This follows on from the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention (2021) and the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime (2024). (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)