Title:
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Human rights issues in electronic investigations : a comparative study between English law and Egyptian law
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This thesis examines the electronic investigations and its human rights
implications, both under English law and in Egypt, drawing parallels and
highlighting differences between the two jurisdictions. It considers whether the
right balance has been achieved between the State's right to investigate crime
and the protection of fundamental individuals' rights.
It analyses (I) general rules of human rights and rights compromised in the
electronic investigations both at national and international levels (chapter 2);
(Il) the interception of communications, i.e. content and communications data
(chapter 3); (Ill) the search and seizure of data (chapter 4); and (IV) the
obligation to produce data and its key where it is encrypted, and the effect of
non-compliance with such requirement (chapter 5). Particular attention is
given to specific themes related to various procedures, such as the person
authorising them, their justification, defining their scope as to the place/s, the
person/s and the material, the conditions governing their execution, and the use
made of acquired data.
The thesis goes on to consider exceptions to the general rules relating to these
procedures. Finally, it discusses the admissibility of material obtained by these
procedures as evidence, the feasibility of copying electronic material rather
than seizing it and the retention of data.
The research finds that: (a) both the English and the Egyptian legal systems
need to adopt approaches more protective of human rights than they currently
do with regard to some measures; (b) English law needs to admit intercept
evidence as it is very advantageous for investigation of crime; and (c) Egyptian
law also needs to update its provisions for the effective electronic
investigations, because having been written with tangible data in mind, the
current arrangements now seem outdated.
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