The Presumption of Innocence as a Source for Universal Rules on Digital Evidence:The guiding principle for digital forensics in producing digital evidence for criminal investigations

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for the development of digital evidence rules in technology-assisted investigations based on the presumption of innocence. The presumption of innocence (PI) is examined as a general principle of criminal procedure to delineate its scope and application on pre-trial and clarify its role for the development and harmonization of practical and enforceable rules for digital evidence. It is demonstrated that PI provides a theoretical background for digital evidence regulation, digital forensics standards, and harmonized rules on the use of technology for investigative purposes irrespective of jurisdictional differences. The derived PI-based evidence rules reveal missing techno-legal policy for their implementation in digital evidence systems and processes. After introducing the wide-spread use of digital evidence by law enforcement in the course of criminal investigations and proceedings (I.), this article reviews the schools of thought regarding the impact of PI on evidence procedures focussing on the question whether PI’s protection against wrongful conviction could support measures against arbitrary and intrusive investigations (II.). The reviewing analysis strives to balance contradictory opinions about the scope and application of the PI, before examining digital forensics specifics in the context of the derived PI-based evidence rules to identify techno-legal policy tailored for the digital investigations and its effective implementation in digital evidence systems (III.)

Shuttling More than Goods: Collective Support among Turkish-Bulgarian Shuttle Traders

Given that the European Union is a free trade, market-oriented economic zone that should, theoretically, eliminate market distortions that fuel the informal economy, why are we seeing continued participation in the informal economy, specifically, the shuttle trade between Bulgaria and Turkey? Many scholars frequently cite price distortions, market gaps, lucrative exchange rates, and economic survival as prominent reasons, however, these explanations do not suffice in explaining why the shuttle trade thrives 25 years after the communist collapse in Bulgaria. Through the use of meta-linguistic analysis of the interviews and analysis of the individuals that I interviewed, I argue that, in addition to being a viable method of income supplementation, the shuttle trade also serves as a platform for social support and identity reconciliation for Turkish-Bulgarian participants. Collective nostalgia about the communist past and similar post-communist experiences and a strong sense of interpersonal trust serve to integrate shuttle traders, who invest in social capital via the shuttle trade

Certification and quality of goods

Sophisticated market relations require, at the present stage, additional guarantees regarding the consumer properties of the goods. Certification is an important means of achieving confidence and trading. The possibilities of different types and forms of certification for quality assurance of products are analyzed. Specification of the mandatory certification and the role of the harmonized standards for conformity assessment with the essential requirements for the products are specified. The main types of voluntary certification at the international, regional and national level are systemized and outlined. The advantages of applying the certification of quality management systems, certification systems for conformity assessment: with national and other standards; with the requirements of international, regional or national certification systems; with relevant environmental requirements. The positive role of certification for the development of market relations, the improvement of the quality of life, the protection of the environment and the health of consumers and the necessity of its wider supply at different levels have been established

Standards for Digital Evidence:an inquiry into the opportunities for fair trial safeguards through digital forensics standards in criminal investigations

Is digital evidence reliable? Does digital forensics in criminal investigations uphold to fair trial principles and forensics standards? What is the impact of the increased use of science and technology in the investigation on the rights of suspects, accused, and defendants? This research attempts to address those questions through the lens of the right to a fair trial (Art. 6 ECHR). Selected fair trial guarantees are analysed in order to clarify specific evidence rules for digital investigations. These evidence rules feed into a gap analysis exemplifying unaddressed threats to the right to a fair trial rooted in the specifics of digital investigations and the underdeveloped reliability standard for digital evidence. The imminent challenges with digital evidence in practice are demonstrated in the review of the Encrochat investigation. To address the identified challenges the thesis employs action research and examines practical solutions for improvement of digital evidence reliability by integrating fair trial based evidence rules, with existing digital forensics methodology and given law enforcement requirements. As a result, a new reliability validation enabling framework for digital evidence is proposed. The practical benefits of the proposed framework for digital forensic examiners and law enforcement are tested in two case studies in cooperation with the Norwegian police. The argumentative legal analysis further explores the feasibility and implications of a new digital right to procedural accuracy to comprehensively address the significant impact of digital forensic science and technology on individuals’ rights in criminal proceedings and to serve as a legislative anchor for digital evidence reliability assurance

Encrochat:The hacker with a warrant and fair trials?

This paper introduces the Encrochat operation as an example of the technological, cross-border, and cross-disciplinary complexity of one contemporary digital investigation. The use of encryption for large-scale criminal activity and organized crime requires law enforcement to act pro-actively to secure evidence, to rely on cross-border evidence exchange, and to use more efficient digital forensic techniques for decryption, data acquisition, and analysis of volumized evidence. The Encrochat investigation also poses the question whether the traditional fair trial principle can still ensure minimum state intrusion and upholding of legitimacy in the new ubiquitous investigation process, where digital forensics methods and tools for hacking and data acquisition are used to identify and arrest thousands of suspects and collect evidence in real-time during criminal activity. The operation is examined through the lens of the right to a fair trial, as codified in Art. 6 ECHR, in order to exemplify three challenging aspects. Firstly, in cross-border investigations there are no binding digital forensics standards in criminal proceedings or forensic reports exchange policy which demands reliability and compliance with Art. 6 ECHR-based evidence rules. Secondly, the defense's stand is not sufficiently addressed in current digital evidence legislation or mutual trust-based instruments at the EU level. Finally, the judicial process lacks scalable procedures to scrutinize digital evidence processing and reliability and is exposed to technology dependences. The identified gaps and their practical impact require a novel approach to digital evidence governance.</p