New terms related to cybercrime are being added to Azerbaijani legislation.
According to Modern.az, the issue is reflected in the amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes discussed at today's plenary session of the Milli Majlis.
The main purpose of the amendment is to respond to new challenges in the fight against cybercrime, eliminate existing gaps in legislation, and fully integrate the requirements of international agreements in the relevant field into the domestic legal system.
In the draft law, outdated expressions are replaced with modern terms in accordance with technological progress. Thus, in accordance with the requirements of the UN Convention against Cybercrime, the phrase "computer system" in the legislation is replaced with "ICT system", and "computer data" with "electronic data".
This ensures the inclusion of all modern means, from smartphones to cloud infrastructure, within the scope of legal regulation. At the same time, new legal concepts such as "traffic data", "subscriber data", "content data", and "service provider" are introduced into the legislation.
The additions to the Criminal Procedure Code place the process of collecting electronic evidence within a full legal framework. This includes defining the rules for obtaining, protecting, and procedurally formalizing electronic data, as well as clarifying the legal bases and limits of inspection, search, and seizure measures for ICT systems. These changes will serve to increase the reliability, admissibility, and transparency of the evaluation of electronic evidence in court.
Furthermore, according to the project, new articles such as "Conducting Pre-trial Proceedings Electronically" and "Conducting Court Proceedings Electronically" are included in the CPC, providing for detailed regulation of these matters. The text of the currently existing article titled "Conducting Criminal Justice Proceedings Electronically" has been expanded and presented in a new version. Also, the mechanism for document circulation between the court and the prosecutor's office through the "Electronic Court" and "Electronic Prosecutor's Office" systems, using an enhanced electronic signature, is established.
It has been reported that during the preparation of the project, the legislative practices of countries such as Germany, the USA, Turkey, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Uzbekistan were closely studied.
The issue was put to a vote and adopted in the first reading.
