Spain, Italy and Serbia cooperate to train their justice and security institutions against encrypted communications of organized crime

• Access to encrypted information, such as that found on the Dark Web, is key for institutions to effectively combat criminal activities.

“Current status and new challenges in the field of interception and access to communications: a technical and judicial approach to Encrochat, Sky, ECC, Anon and Exclu applications”. Under this title, Belgrade held a seminar that brought together representativesof the judiciary, the Prosecutor’s Office, law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Serbia with their counterparts from Spanish, Italian and EUROPOL institutions.

The new means of evidence based on the current forms of interception and access to communications, related to encrypted platforms and systems, entail important challenges for the actors of the criminal process in all European countries. The issues raised by encrypted platforms in Serbian criminal proceedings generate challenges, allegations and appeals from the defenses. Added to this is the lack of experience in dealing with such evidence from foreign countries and the lack of knowledge of court proceedings and decisions made in other countries. This is a current problem on which the countries of the European Union are concentrating their institutional efforts to strengthen the fight against serious and organized crime.

Within the framework of theEuropean project to support Serbia in the field of justice, freedom and security, the European Union is working on a project to support Serbia in the field of justice, freedom and security this seminar has been an innovative space where all the actors of the criminal process have discussed the main problems and the latest challenges associated with the use of evidence based on the different encrypted platforms, and have exchanged experiences with their Spanish and Italian counterparts, and EUROPOL.

Representatives of the police, judiciary and prosecutors in Serbia, specialized in serious and organized crime, stressed the need to host a joint seminar involving the actors of the criminal process, to exchange technical opinions and experiences on the challenges of encrypted platforms.

Marta Pizarro Mayo, magistrate and key expert in judicial and prosecutorial mattersmobilized by FIIAPP in the framework of the project, emphasizes that this seminar is presented as a model to be replicated annually to improve work in the face of increasingly complex crimes.

The opening of the event was attended by Supreme Court Judge Bojana Paunović, and the Prosecutor of the High Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia, Miljko Radisavljević. In addition, Prosecutor Irena Bjeloš from the Prosecutor’s Office for the Fight against Organized Crime and Judge Ivana Bursać from the Special Department against Organized Crime of the High Court of Belgrade presented the main challenges faced by Serbian judges, judges and prosecutors.

This seminar, unprecedented in Serbia, was made possible thanks to the efforts of Serbian prosecutors’ offices and courts specialized in the fight against serious and organized crime, as well as members of law enforcement agencies and the project team.

The contributions of representatives of EUROPOL, such as Tomislav Mihalić, of the Guardia Civil, such as Sergio Andrés Álvarez, and of representatives of Italian law enforcement agencies, such as Alfredo Saviano, Sergio Santon,  Federica Carletti, Andrea Carnimeo, and Giuseppe Giliberti, have also been essential. The intervention of representatives of the Spanish Judiciary and Public Prosecutor’s Office, such as José Manuel Sánchez Siscart and María José Martínez Rodríguez, was also crucial.

The seminar participants highlighted its multidisciplinary and international approach, with representatives from the judiciary, the public prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies, as well as specialists from different nationalities, taking an in-depth look at the challenges of encrypted platforms. The format of the Seminar has been so successful that it is considered a model to be replicated in future events.