Criminal Justice (International Cooperation on Electronic Evidence and Other Matters) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24
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Robbie Gallagher (FF), Labour Panel

On behalf of my party, I welcome and support this Bill, which will establish a new office of director of criminal justice international co-operation to allow Ireland to meet the requirement of the EU e-evidence package. This package will make it faster and easier for law enforcement and judicial authorities across the EU to obtain electronic evidence from service providers as part of criminal investigations. The establishment of the office of director of criminal justice international co-operation will provide a cohesive approach to digital regulation in the criminal justice space. It will centralise the necessary skills and expertise, providing a single point of contact for cross-border judicial co-operation on e-evidence and ensuring a streamlined regulatory framework. It will also enhance Ireland's ability to ensure effective access to digital evidence in tracking serious crime.
The use of online services to facilitate and perpetuate criminal activity does not respect geographical borders, as we all know. While data flows globally, law enforcement authorities across Europe are often in need of foreign-held evidence for domestic cases, including data held by service providers in this jurisdiction. The existing means of legal co-operation between countries can be slow and complex. As a result, law enforcement and judicial authorities often experience difficulties in accessing electronic evidence relevant to an investigation, rendering prosecutions ineffective. It is to address these deficiencies that the Minister is introducing this Bill, and I welcome that.
The Bill is designed to implement the EU e-evidence package in Ireland and to ensure that the State is prepared for the application of the EU e-evidence regulation from 18 August next. The EU e-evidence package introduces a new framework that allows law enforcement and judicial authorities in one EU member state to obtain electronic evidence directly from service providers located in another member state. It does this through two new legal instruments, European production orders, which require the production of electronic evidence, and European participation orders, which require data to be preserved for future investigations. The objective is to make access to electronic evidence faster and more effective. Under the new system, service providers will generally be required to respond within ten days or within eight hours in emergency situations.
This Bill provides for the establishment of the office of the director of criminal justice international co-operation and the appointment of a director to oversee Ireland's implementation of the e-evidence framework. The director will be responsible for monitoring compliance, enforcing obligations on service providers and administrating penalties where necessary. This Bill will require service providers operating within the scope of the legislation to designate and addressee to receive and respond to electronic evidence orders. This is intended to ensure that authorities have a clear point of contact and that the providers can comply effectively with their obligations. In addition, the Bill assigns to the director responsibility for the scrutiny of certain cross-border removal orders under EU terrorist content online regulations, ensuring that such orders comply with EU law and the fundamental right to protection.
Implementation of the e-evidence package is important for Ireland's criminal justice system and for its position as a major European centre for technology and digital regulation. It is anticipated that a significant number of service providers will fall within the scope of this framework and that large volumes of electronic evidence requests will be processed through Ireland each year.
Ireland is obliged to implement both the directive and the regulations. Timely enactment of this legislation is necessary to fulfil those obligations and support effective cross-border co-operation in criminal investigations. I look forward to this legislation passing through the Oireachtas.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24