This volume offers a general overview on the handling and regulating electronic evidence in Europe, presenting a standard for the exchange process. Chapters explore the nature of electronic evidence and readers will learn of the challenges involved in upholding the necessary standards and maintaining the integrity of information. Challenges particularly occur when European Union member states collaborate and evidence is exchanged, as may be the case when solving a cybercrime. One such challenge is that the variety of possible evidences is so wide that potentially anything may become the evidence of a crime. Moreover, the introduction and the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT) has generated new forms of crimes or new ways of perpetrating them, as well as a new type of evidence. Contributing authors examine the legal framework in place in various EU member states when dealing with electronic evidence, with prominence given to data protection and privacy issues. Readers may learn about the state of the art tools and standards utilized for treating and exchanging evidence, and existing platforms and environments run by different Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) at local and central level. Readers will also discover the operational point of view of LEAs when dealing with electronic evidence, and their requirements and expectations for the future. Finally, readers may consider a proposal for realizing a unique legal framework for governing in a uniform and aligned way the treatment and cross border exchange of electronic evidence in Europe. The use, collection and exchange of electronic evidence in the European Union context and the rules, practises, operational guidelines, standards and tools utilized by LEAs, judges, Public prosecutors and other relevant stakeholders are all covered in this comprehensive work. It will appeal to researchers in both law and computer science, as well as those with an interest in privacy, digital forensics, electronic evidence, legal frameworks and law enforcement.

In the era of globalisation, cross-border crimes are becoming increasingly common. The nature of these crimes is complex, and cross-border evidence exchange is, therefore, crucial to the successful prosecution of these offences. The exchange of evidence between countries can provide invaluable assistance in solving crimes that have an international dimension.  The European Investigation Order (EIO) allows judicial authorities to request evidence more quickly and easily than via traditional instruments. The EIO has become the primary legal tool for gathering trans-border evidence, replacing the traditional Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) conventions previously used. However, the EIO is not the only pertinent legal instrument for cross-border evidence gathering within the EU. Accordingly, professionals need a clear understanding of this subject. Exchanging evidence among judicial authorities in the EU Member States presupposes two essential components. First, there must be a secure communication channel. This is provided by e-CODEX, which offers a European digital infrastructure for secure cross-border communication in the field of justice. Recently (May 30th, 2022), the e-CODEX system became the digital backbone of EU judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters on the basis of Regulation 2022/850. To achieve effective evidence exchange via EIO/MLA legal instruments, there must also be a communication tool. This is provided by the e-Evidence Digital Exchange System, which is capable of managing any EIO/MLA procedures/instruments, from the e-Forms (EIO Annexes) to the whole business logic, on the basis of the e-CODEX system. Finally, it is essential to use a uniform standard for the representation of evidence data and metadata, so as to streamline the process and make investigations more effective, in particular when it comes to complicated criminal cases where it is key to find either correlations among different cases or to extract multiple types of data from the same inspection. The importance of cross-border evidence exchange in criminal matters cannot be overstated. This book addresses all the above-mentioned aspects, offering an up-to-date overview of scenarios in cross-border judicial cooperation from both juridical and technical standpoints.