Verfassungsblog (Jun 2023)
Fast-Tracking Law Enforcement at the Expense of Fundamental Rights
Abstract
Five years in the making, the EU’s e-evidence Regulation was finally adopted by the European Parliament on June 13. The Regulation will allow law enforcement authorities to directly compel online service providers operating in the EU to preserve or produce e-evidence in the context of criminal proceedings. This is achieved through applying the principle of mutual recognition to cooperation with online service providers, thereby skipping judicial control in the Member State where the service provider is established. Whilst these innovations have been lauded for facilitating access to data in cross-border cases, this blogpost will detail how the Regulation’s emphasis on speed and efficiency comes at the expense of safeguarding suspects’ fundamental rights.
