Loi n° 27-2020 du 5 juin 2020 portant lutte contre la cybercriminalité (Law No. 27-2020 of 5 June 2020 on combating cybercrime) (Congo, Republic)

Law No. 27-2020 of 5 June 2020 on combating cybercrime is the Republic of the Congo's principal cybercrime statute. Comprising 108 articles, it was adopted as part of a package of digital-economy reforms and published in the Journal Officiel de la République du Congo. It was enacted alongside Law No. 26-2020 of the same date on cybersecurity, with the two instruments forming the core of the country's framework for securing the digital environment and prosecuting cyber offences. The law is broadly aligned with regional and international models, including the African Union (Malabo) Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection and the Council of Europe (Budapest) Convention. The law establishes a comprehensive catalogue of substantive offences. It criminalises offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems and data, including unauthorised access to and remaining within information systems, interference with system functioning, and unlawful interception of data, together with the fraudulent introduction, alteration or deletion of data. It further addresses computer-related fraud and forgery, offences relating to electronic content, and offences involving the misuse of personal data processed through information systems. Provision is made for the criminal liability of legal persons in addition to natural persons. On the procedural side, the law equips investigators and prosecutors with specialised powers for the digital context, including the expedited preservation of stored computer data, search and seizure of computer systems and data, and the collection of electronic evidence, exercised under judicial supervision within the ordinary criminal-justice system. The law also contains provisions supporting international cooperation, mutual legal assistance and cross-border access to electronic evidence, reflecting the transnational nature of cybercrime. Enforcement is carried out through the Congolese criminal-justice institutions, the public prosecutor, investigating judges and the courts, supported by the institutional architecture created under the companion cybersecurity law (notably the national information-systems security agency, ANSSI). Together with the data protection regime (Law No. 29-2019), Law No. 27-2020 gives the Republic of the Congo a modern, if recently established, legal basis for tackling offences against and through information systems.

1. 1Principal cybercrime statute (108 articles), enacted with the companion cybersecurity Law No. 26-2020 of the same date; aligned with the Malabo and Budapest Conventions
2. 2Criminalises offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of systems and data, unauthorised access/remaining, system interference, unlawful interception, and fraudulent input/alteration/deletion of data
3. 3Criminalises computer-related fraud and forgery, content offences, and misuse of personal data in information systems
4. 4Provides for the criminal liability of legal persons
5. 5Grants procedural powers: expedited preservation of stored data, search and seizure of systems and data, and collection of electronic evidence under judicial supervision
6. 6Contains international cooperation and mutual legal assistance provisions for cross-border electronic evidence