Lei n.º 8/IX/2017 de 20 de março, Lei do Cibercrime (Cybercrime Law of Cabo Verde)

Cabo Verde's Lei n.º 8/IX/2017 (Lei do Cibercrime), published on 20 March 2017, is the country's dedicated cybercrime statute, closely modelled on the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention), to which Cabo Verde has moved to accede. The law establishes substantive criminal-law provisions, procedural rules for the collection of evidence in electronic form, and provisions on international cooperation in criminal matters relating to cybercrime. The substantive offences track the Budapest framework: illegal access to computer systems, illegal interception of computer data, data interference and system interference, misuse of devices, computer-related forgery and computer-related fraud, together with content-related offences. By criminalising offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems and data, the law provides Cabo Verde with a modern, convention-compliant basis for prosecuting cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crime. The procedural chapter is detailed and convention-aligned. It includes expedited preservation of stored computer data (art. 14), expedited disclosure of traffic data (art. 15), production orders (art. 16), search of computer data (art. 17), seizure of computer data (art. 18), seizure of email and communications records of a similar nature (art. 19), real-time interception of communications (art. 20), and undercover (online covert) investigation (art. 21). These tools give investigators and prosecutors the means to obtain and preserve volatile electronic evidence while remaining within a defined legal framework. The law also contains a chapter on international cooperation, providing for mutual legal assistance, expedited preservation requests and a 24/7 point of contact, in line with the Budapest Convention's cooperation regime, important for a small island state heavily dependent on cross-border digital infrastructure. Enforcement is carried out through the Judicial Police (Polícia Judiciária) and the Public Prosecutor's office (Ministério Público). The cybercrime regime operates alongside Cabo Verde's data protection law (Lei n.º 133/V/2001, as amended) and its national data protection authority, the CNPD. Source language: Portuguese.

1. 1Dedicated cybercrime statute closely modelled on the Council of Europe Budapest Convention, to which Cabo Verde has moved to accede
2. 2Substantive offences: illegal access, illegal interception, data and system interference, misuse of devices, computer-related forgery and computer-related fraud
3. 3Expedited preservation of stored computer data (art. 14) and expedited disclosure of traffic data (art. 15)
4. 4Production orders (art. 16); search (art. 17) and seizure (art. 18) of computer data; seizure of email and similar communications records (art. 19)
5. 5Real-time interception of communications (art. 20) and undercover online investigation (art. 21)
6. 6International cooperation chapter providing for mutual legal assistance, data-preservation requests and a 24/7 point of contact
7. 7Enforced by the Judicial Police and the Public Prosecutor; complements Cabo Verde's data protection law (Lei n.º 133/V/2001)