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Helen Aaremäe-Saar joined the EU Commissions' e-evidence expert group

The European Parliament adopted the e-evidence regulation in the summer of 2023 with the aim of enhancing the legal cooperation between Member States. The acquisition and preservation of electronic evidence are becoming increasingly important in criminal proceedings, therefore, it is important to develop the conditions and regulations that apply to electronic evidence. The regulation also applies directly to domain registries - the .ee registry is represented by Helen Aaremäe-Saar.

The EIF's core objective within this expert group is to advocate for the interests of smaller registries and registrars. Altogether, there are 25 experts included in the working group from all over Europe. The involvement of registries is important because they may hold information that can be used to identify the owner of a website used in criminal activity or the victim of a crime.

The impetus for these electronic evidence regulations stems from the fragmented legal landscape across EU member states. This fragmentation often leads to hurdles in the collection and sharing of e-evidence, especially when online service providers are situated in different countries from those conducting criminal investigations. Furthermore, the protracted process of acquiring physical evidence through legal channels has raised concerns. Delays in obtaining evidence can render it irrelevant by the time it's in the hands of investigators. Consequently, the implementation of pan-European measures for the storage and sharing of electronic evidence becomes pivotal in the fight against crime, including cybercrime.

The implementing acts of e-evidence must be adopted by August 18, 2025. Implementation acts are necessary for the creation and use of a decentralized IT system - within the framework of them, a technical description of the solution is drawn up, an information exchange protocol and information security goals and standards are established.

Learn more about the expert group from the European Commission website.