Cross-border access to electronic evidence: is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

With a substantial number of criminal activities, ranging from attacks against information systems to ‘old-school’ fraud and extortion, taking place in online settings, electronic information can be an important source of investigative leads. However, both the definition of the term ‘electronic evidence’ (e-evidence) and the relevant criminal procedural approaches continue to vary at national level. At the same time, the process of regulating cross-border access to e-evidence for law enforcement purposes at transnational level has proven equally cumbersome.