New Cyber Crime Prosecutor

By Resolution N° 3743, issued on November 28, 2015, the Office of the Attorney General created the National Prosecutorial Unit in matters of Cyber Crime (UFECI, as per initials in Spanish).

The creation of this unit aims to increase the intervention of the Public Ministry in matters of cyber-crime. At the same time, it is also a way of complying with international treaties in matters of prevention and prosecution of different forms of transnational and organized crime.

The new UFECI will have jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute both technological crimes per se (that is, criminal acts directed against a technological network or device) as well as traditional offenses where technology is simply an instrument of the crime. In any case, special emphasis will be placed on organized crime –human trafficking, drug dealing, money laundering and terrorism financing, among other crimes.

In addition, the UFECI will have the authority to participate in any process requiring the analysis of digital devices and/or information, regardless of whether it occurs in the context of a cyber-crime investigation (for example, assist in the location of a fugitive through analysis of online social media activity).