Mutual Assistance in the Digital Age

forthcoming

This project analyzes the effectiveness of new European Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) frameworks for cybercrime investigations, focusing on the exchange of electronic evidence (e-evidence). It examines legal and data protection challenges, particularly the role of private service providers and their compliance with European data protection regulations. Concretely, the project aims to close specific legal research gaps that can be identified when looking at the Second Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention and the E-Evidence Legislative Package. The project herein focuses on the consequences that are to be expected when increasing the public-private partnership in the criminal mutual assistance sector. The goal is to develop legal-dogmatic reports concerning the interpretation of the frameworks, policy recommendations and best practice guidelines for judicial and private actors for cross-border cooperation while safeguarding fundamental rights as well as to generate valuable empirical data in this legal field.