Serbia: “Strengthened capacities (human and legal) of Criminal Police Department and Special Prosecution Office for Combating High-Tech Crime and public awareness”
- Details
- Published: December 16, 2021
EU Twinning Project
Strengthened capacities (human and legal) of Criminal Police Department and Special Prosecutor’s Office in combating cyber-crime and public awareness, Serbia
February 2022 – November 2022
IRZ Juniorpartner
Budget: 1 Mio. Euro
Responsible at the IRZ: Katharina Tegeder, Lea Plum
IRZ is implementing the project “Strengthened capacities (human and legal) of Criminal Police Department and Special Prosecution Office for Combating High-Tech Crime and public awareness” as a junior partner, together with the Ministry of Interior of Slovenia and under the coordination of the Austrian Agency for European Integration and Economic Development. This project, with a runtime of 18 months and a budget of 1 Million Euro, will start its implementation in December 2021.
High-tech crime, or cybercrime, is a dynamically changing global criminal phenomenon, and is characterised by a continually rising crime rate, despite the possibility that, lacking awareness-raising, many cybercrimes are never reported and not included in police statistics. The fight against high-tech crime is covered in the EU Acquis and is an area particularly well-served by international cooperation.
This project aims to strengthen the professional capacities of Serbia’s Criminal Police Directorate, Service for combatting organized crime, Department for Combatting High-Tech Crime and Special Prosecution Office for High-Tech Crime.
The project consists of two components:
First component: Capacity building for Criminal Police Department and Special Prosecution Office in combating cybercrime
Under this component, the project team will work to enhance the capacities of Serbian institutions involved in the fight against cybercrime, improving the staff knowledge and competences in dealing with this type of crime through trainings and training-of trainers.
A training needs analysis will be conducted and a minimum of 40 specialised trainings will be delivered to staff from the Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecutor’s office and other competent agencies in Serbia. Additionally a number of trainings and workshops will be organised for children and legal guardians as well as schools, relating to the fight against child sexual abuse through cyber-means and aiming to reach a minimum of 100 children per training. Trainings will also be organised for the judicial academy, and its curriculum will be analysed and revised to cover cybercrime as a topic.
Awareness raising of the need for a “cybersecurity culture” will also be covered through publications such as manuals, and promotional materials such as flyers and stickers.
Second component: Strengthening institutional, analytical and legal framework to fight against cybercrime
Under the second component, legal analyses and assessments on relevant topics related to fight against cybercrime and cyber related crimes will be produced and a number of workshops will be conducted to present recommendations on this topic to identified relevant stakeholders. The existing legislation and regulatory framework in Serbia will be reviewed and recommendations for amendments will be drafted, aiming to harmonize it with the EU and international standards. A number of related bylaws in relation to fight cybercrime and cyber related crimes prepared for amendment.
Additionally, the institutional framework for new competences of bodies engaging in the fight against cybercrime will be enhanced through a functional analysis in line with the law for required competences, and the drafting of amendment recommendations.
