Electronic Evidence Semantic Structure: Exchanging Evidence Across Europe in a Coherent and Consistent Way

Abstract

In a cross-border dimension considering the specific collaboration among European Union Member States related to criminal investigations and criminal trials, it becomes crucial to have a common and shared understanding of what Electronic Evidence is and how it should be treated in the EU context and in the EU MS. In this context the EVIDENCE project developed a tailor-made categorization of relevant concepts that allow to rely on a common and shared knowledge in this domain. The categorization provides a starting analysis for the exchange of Electronic Evidence and data between judicial actors and LEAs, with a specific focus on issues of the criminal field and criminal procedures. This semantic Structure might represent a good starting point for the alignment of electronic evidence concepts all over Europe in across border dimension. This categorisation is significant as it is one of the few initiatives to identify and classify relevant concepts in a domain, which currently lacks of clear boundaries and touches upon different disciplines.