EU: Cyber crime
01 May 1999
At its meeting in May the Justice and Home Council adopted a "Joint Position on negotiations relating to the Draft Convention on Cyber Crime in the Council of Europe". This is the first "Joint Position" adopted under the new Amsterdam Treaty provision Article 34.2.a. The Joint Position covers the EU's negotiating position on both computer-related offences such as computer fraud and forgery and to content-related offences such as child pornography. However, the report goes on to say:
"Furthermore Member States will advocate, where appropriate, the inclusion of rules which call for the application of content-related offences committed by means of a computer system."
Such a vague and unspecific provision while covering child pornography could also be used against protest movements who use the internet to publicise events such as the "leaderless" J18 demonstration "against Capitalism" in the City of London in June.
The specific mention of "serious" criminal offences is only used when referring to the need for "mutual assistance" to "expedite search of data stored in their territory".
Draft Joint Position on negotiations relating to the Draft Convention on Cyber Crime in the Council of Europe, K4 Committee to COREPER, 7352/2/99, Limite, 11.5.99.