The era of digitalization poses new challenges to the fight against crime, necessitating increased international cooperation. This was the focus of discussions at a conference of the International Association of Prosecutors, held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey and organized by the International Association of Prosecutors.
The forum was hosted by the Prosecutor General of Turkey, Bekir Şahin, and the theme of the meeting was "Investigating Crimes in the Digital Era". The first Pan-European Regional Conference brought together general prosecutors, representatives of prosecutorial and investigative authorities and heads of crime fighting organizations from Europe, Central Asia and the United States.
On the Bulgarian part members of the delegation are also Tsvetomir Yosifov, Head of the International Department at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office and the District Prosecutor of the city of Pleven and President of the Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria – Vladimir Nikolov.
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev stressed the important role of digitalization in facilitating investigative authorities worldwide in the performance of their duties, but pointed out that the ever-faster developing new technologies open a new segment in crime. For this reason, investigators and prosecutors need to be extremely resourceful in order to improve the means they use to detect and investigate new crimes at the same pace of upgrading technological capabilities.
"The new possibilities - robotization, digital evolution, the modern ways of gathering information are the new conditions against which we must work to protect the rights of our citizens and the stability of our legal systems," Ivan Geshev said.
Turkey's Prosecutor General Bekir Şahin also stressed that the digital age is opening a new page in the fight against crime, so working together and cooperating is of utmost importance, as there is an international element in most digital crimes.
Special focus in the discussions was also placed on the important role of the independence of prosecutors and investigative authorities for successful counter-crime in the international context. "The independence of magistrates and prosecutors in particular is a shield against attempts to interfere in their work. We have a duty to protect and preserve it, and this is only possible through the joint efforts of the entire international community," said Secretary General of the International Association of Prosecutors Han Moraal.
Kamran Aliyev, Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan and Deputy President of the International Association of Prosecutors, pointed out that the technological progress can in many cases play the role of a springboard towards improving methods of investigating cross-border crimes.
The President of the Supreme Court of Cassation of Turkey, Mehmet Akarca, placed special emphasis on the challenges for investigative authorities posed by the technological upsurge in criminal law.
The legal regulation in different national legislations of different types of crimes that are committed online, such as crimes related to crypto currencies, online fraud, sponsoring terrorism, drug distribution, was also discussed.
Within the framework of its visit to the Republic of Turkey, the Bulgarian delegation held bilateral meetings with the representatives of the investigative authorities of the countries participating in the forum.