Transnational Criminal Investigations in Cyberspace: Challenges to National Sovereignty

Abstract

The internet has become a major place of business for criminals. Due to the properties of cyberspace, crime committed on or by means of the internet is typically transnational in nature. This poses a significant obstacle for law enforcement authorities. As a rule, transnational exercise of enforcement jurisdiction traditionally constitutes a violation of another State’s territorial sovereignty. But do the same rules apply in the ‘global cyberspace?’ This article examines the applicability of the principle of territorial sovereignty in cyberspace. It rejects solutions that treat cyberspace as a common good and argues that transborder online criminal investigations infringe the territorial sovereignty of the State where the accessed data are located. Consequently, the analysis assesses justifications for such infringements on the basis of international treaty law, customary international law, and circumstances precluding wrongfulness. For the most intricate cases of loss of location, the analysis develops a carefully delimited, new solution based on the principle of necessity. The article also sheds light on future perspectives and advocates for a ‘cooperative cyberspace’ of investigators to counterbalance the unfettered global cyberspace of perpetrators.

Politiets adgang til ransaking og beslag i data på utenlandske servere

“…15 Den mest grunnleggende regelen i folkeretten er suverenitetsprinsippet som fastslår at enhver stat på eget territorium 9 Sieber & Neubert (2016) s. 243 10 Smith & Browne (2019) s. xiv 11 Lov 22. mai 1981 nr. 25 om rettergangsmåten i straffesaker 12 Sieber & Neubert (2016) s. 243 13 Europakommisjonen (05.02.2019) s. 1 14 Lov 20. mai 2005 nr. 28 om straff 15 FN-sambandet (2019) har fullt rådvelde både med tanke på lovgivning og håndhevelse.…”

The limits of subjective territorial jurisdiction in the context of cybercrime

“…1(d). 37 Sieber/Neubert [43], p. 243; Velasco [47], p. 345. 38 For more on this, see Jessberger [25] per cent of cybercrime acts encountered by the police involve a transnational element.…”

“…38 For more on this, see Jessberger [25] per cent of cybercrime acts encountered by the police involve a transnational element. 43…”

“…However, in addition to the potentially very high number of jurisdictions to get in touch with, the problem is that the legal process to obtain consent is usually time-consuming, which is incompatible with the volatile nature of data. 47 Secondly, consent can be granted in advance by virtue of a treaty provision, such as Article 40 of the Arab Convention on Combating Information Technology Of- 43 See p. 183 of the study. 44 46 Sieber/Neubert [43], p. 257.…”

“…47 Secondly, consent can be granted in advance by virtue of a treaty provision, such as Article 40 of the Arab Convention on Combating Information Technology Of- 43 See p. 183 of the study. 44 46 Sieber/Neubert [43], p. 257. In the same vein, see e.g.…”