Cross-Border Law Enforcement: Gathering of Stored Electronic Evidence

摘要

The investigation of cybercrime committed across national borders can only be effectively addressed if law enforcement authorities may gather electronic evidence with specific reference to cross-border stored evidence. The legal question arises as to whether a country's law enforcement agency has extra-territorial remote and unilateral powers to access evidence stored in the cloud in another country or whether law enforcement authorities must use pre-established formal channels of cooperation, such as Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs). The legal question and issues arising from cross-border law enforcements' gathering of electronic evidence have far-reaching legal implications and, therefore, necessitate clarification on national and international levels.