The Netherlands is suffering from the increasing threats resulting from or caused by undermining drug crime. To contain, reduce and punish this subversive crime, it should be possible in the future, according to politicians, to confiscate money from suspects that are not yet sentenced. Hacked phones also enable new criminal investigations by the justice department. Joost Nan, Professor of Criminal (Procedural) Law at Erasmus School of Law, explains these plans and how these initiatives could better handle subversive crime.
Pretty good privacy
In the Netherlands, the justice department started a couple of extensive criminal investigations after the department hacked so-called PGP phones. These Pretty Good Privacy phones have been vital communication devices in the criminal world for a long time. Since criminals considered these phones unhackable, "criminals were very clear about what they ordered, be it murder, drugs, or whatever", Nan explains to The Guardian.
A few years ago, the justice department first managed to hack these phones and access loads of messages from the criminal underworld. The hack, therefore, was a breakthrough in the investigation. Suspects in criminal cases try to keep incriminating messages out of evidence. "In many criminal cases, suspects argued that the hacks were illegal because of procedural mistakes or because sharing the information with the justice department is not based on a treaty. These arguments have not held up in court yet", says Nan.
Lessons from Italian anti-mafia laws
In addition, the Dutch cabinet is considering legislation to decrypt coded messages, reduce prison inmates' communication, and confiscate objects without a criminal sentence. "There is a concept code for non-conviction-based confiscation. Reducing (the right to) communication of inmates could prevent criminal leaders from continuing their criminal imperium from behind bars, which the cabinet is considering," explains Nan. Confiscating objects without a conviction is a measure cabinet has adopted, with an eye to Italian mafia laws.
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Click here for the entire article by The Guardian.