INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Law Ministers’ Mandate and the CHOGM Commitment 1. At the Commonwealth Law Ministers’ Meeting held in Sydney from 11 to 14 July 2011, Law Ministers resolved to recognise the significant threat cybercrime poses to national security and law enforcement in all countries of the Commonwealth, and mandated the Commonwealth Secretariat to form a multidisciplinary working group of experts to: (i) (ii) (iii) review the practical implications of cybercrime in the Commonwealth; identify the most effective means of international co-operation and enforcement, taking into account, amongst others, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime [hereinafter referred to as the Budapest Convention], without duplicating the work of other international bodies; and collaborate with other international and regional bodies with a view to identifying best practice, educational material and training programmes for investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers.1 The Commonwealth Working Group on Cybercrime 2. In January 2012 the Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the Governance and Institutional Development Divisions of the Commonwealth Secretariat established this Working Group (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Group’) to work on the Law Ministers’ Mandate and present a Report to Law Ministers at their Meeting in Botswana in 2014. As work had already started within the Commonwealth in the context of the Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum (CIGF)’s Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative (CCI), it was thought appropriate for the Group to draw upon the expertise already existing within the CCI and augment the Group with experts drawn from a number of member states, institutions working in this field, academics, legal professionals and civil society in order to form a truly multidisciplinary group (see Appendix). In seeking to include the widest range of stakeholders, including those who are involved in the establishment and operation of the CCI, it was hoped to capture the widest range of viewpoints to address the matter and produce a balanced report. 3. The Group held its first meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat on 27 February 2012 to discuss its terms of reference and consider how it would take forward its work and held further meetings in Geneva on 12 and 13 June 2012, and in London on 13 November 2012, 12 and 13 March 2013, and 16 and 17 May 2013. 4. The Group recalled the importance attached to the problem of cybercrime as a national and transnational crime and the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the CIGF and other specialised agencies in tackling the issue, and noted that: (a) 1 in a related paper on the revision of the Harare Scheme relating to Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters within the Commonwealth (the Harare Scheme), Law Ministers also resolved to adopt a revised and updated Scheme and mandated the Secretariat to develop an associated Model Law and to report to the Senior Officials Meeting to be held in September 2013 on progress in developing this body of work. The updated Scheme includes in its provisions the interception of telecommunications and postal items; covert electronic surveillance; the use of live Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting Communiqué, 2011 paragraphs 17-19: Cybercrime. 1