Legal Balance between the Human Rights Protection and the Effectiveness of the Criminal Investigation

Abstract

In a digital age when national borders are not a barrier to offenders, access to electronic databases, often located in several countries, is required for a thorough criminal investigation and the correct resolution of a large number of criminal cases. The collection of information stored by cloud and telecommunication service providers for criminal prosecution purposes inevitably addresses issues of personal rights and freedoms. The CJEU has clarified that any restriction on the right to private life and data protection must be consistent with the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality provided for in EU law. This study analyzes the compliance of the latest EU legislative instruments on a transnational collection of electronic data tothe European human rights standards and the principles of criminal justice.