The Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) on enhanced cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence (Protocol) aims to enhance cooperation among the Parties, as well as between the Parties and service providers and other entities, for obtaining disclosure of electronic evidence for the purpose of criminal investigations or proceedings. The Protocol was opened for signature by the Parties to the Budapest Convention in May 2022. An important provision of the Protocol aimed at facilitating cooperation between the Parties and private entities is Article 8. When implemented into the domestic law of the Parties, Article 8 will provide a legal basis for a requesting Party to issue an order to be submitted as part of a request to another Party and for the requested Party to have the ability to give effect to that order by compelling a service provider in its territory to produce subscriber information or traffic data in the service provider’s possession or control.

This document analyses the toolbox which will be available to competent authorities under Article 8 of the Protocol, including the types of crime, data, and entities covered; requirements for orders under Article 8; and the transmission of such orders. It also contains information regarding the execution of the request transmitted to the other Party; limitations on use of the provided data or information; and the possibility for the requested Party to impose conditions it considers necessary to permit the execution of the request.

The document was prepared within the framework of the SIRIUS Project. The SIRIUS Project has received funding from the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments under Contribution Agreement No PI/2020/417-500.