The privatisation of mutual trust in Europe’s area of criminal justice
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X18792240 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | Valsamis Mitsilegas |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
The privatisation of mutual
trust in Europe’s area
of criminal justice: The case
of e-evidence
Valsamis Mitsilegas*
The European Commission has recently tabled a proposal for a Regulation on European Production
and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters.
1
The draft Regulation estab-
lishes a system, which if adopted, will compel private service providers offering services in the
European Union (EU)to produce or preserve electronic evidence, regardless of the location of data,
upon receipt of orders issued by public authorities in EU Member States. According to the
proposal, such orders (known respectively as the ‘European Production Order’ and the ‘European
Preservation Order’) can be served on providers of electro nic communication services, social
networks, online marketplaces, other hosting service providers and providers of internet infra-
structure such as IP address and domain name registries, or on their legal representatives where
they exist.
2
As such, the draft Regulation establishes a direct channel of communication between the issuing
(public) authority and private service providers; European Production Orders and European Pre-
servation Orders are directly addressed to a legal representative designated by the service provider
(in order to facilitate this, the Commission has also tabled a draft Regulation laying down harmo-
nized rules on the appointment of legal representatives).
3
The addressees must, in principle,
comply with the orders and react swiftly: Upo n receipt of a European Production Order, th e
addressee must ensure that the requested data is transmitted directly to the issuing authority or
*Queen Mary University of London, UK
Corresponding author:
Valsamis Mitsilegas, Professor of European Criminal Law and Global Security, Head of the Department of Law, Queen Mary
University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
E-mail: v.mitsilegas@qmul.ac.uk
1. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Production and Preservation
Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters, COM (2018) 225 final.
2. Proposal COM (2018), 225 final.
3. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonized rules on the
appointment of legal representatives for the purpose of gathering evidence in criminal proceedings.
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2018, Vol. 25(3) 263–265
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1023263X18792240
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