United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Pakistan

7-8 August 2023, Islamabad - With the financial support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and the Ministry of Interior (MOI) jointly organized a two-day Workshop on Customized Practical Guide for Pakistan on Requesting Electronic Evidence across Borders.

The primary objective of the workshop was to familiarize practitioners with the global and customized practical guide for obtaining electronic evidence across international borders. The participants gained essential knowledge and skills in various aspects, including casework practices for acquiring electronic evidence, drafting and sending preservation requests to foreign service providers, understanding available platforms for seeking electronic evidence through legal procedures and law enforcement guidelines, and using service providers mapping and model preservation request forms.

The workshop provided insights into data preservation, Pre-Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA), and Mutual Legal Assistance processes, addressing challenges, and identifying areas of improvement related to seeking electronic evidence and Emergency Disclosure Requests. It also featured presentations from TikTok and Booking.com, shedding light on the process of obtaining e-evidence from service providers. The presenters from Department of Justice Canada and the United States briefed the participants on how to send requests to seek electronic evidence from both countries.

A total of 19 participants, including a female attendee, took part in the workshop. They represented various law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Counter Terrorism Department from Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Through groupwork activities, the participants had the opportunity to identify and share operational-level problems and challenges and seek expert guidance to find solutions. The workshop fostered transparent and collaborative efforts among law enforcement agencies by streamlining the process of requesting electronic evidence across borders.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants expressed their appreciation for UNODC's efforts in organizing the event and acknowledged the Customized Practical Guide for Requesting Electronic Evidence Across Borders as a significant advancement in Pakistan's fight against terrorism. The knowledge and expertise gained during the workshop equipped law enforcement officials to combat terrorism more effectively using electronic evidence.

The successful training workshop was made possible with the generous support of Global Affairs Canada.

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