A apreensão de correio eletrónico enquanto meio privilegiado de obtenção da prova eletrónico-digital

: das incongruências do art. 189.º, do CPP, à sua compatibilização ou “superação” face ao art. 17.º, da lei n.º 109/2009

Abstract

With new technologies of information and communication, modern communities turned into true societies of information and communication with technology taking control of every aspect of our daily lives. More than a social animal, man is now a technological being, thirsty for communication and information, in such a way that public networks, from websites to social networks and e-mail work now as a true appendix of the human being. Amid all this evolution, the electronic mail is the technical device that allows us to communicate, access or send information. This technological, informational and communicational shift is not unknow to criminals who now, not only commit new “technological” crimes, but also gained new tools to use for traditional crimes. The interception and apprehension of electronical communications configure, in today’s age, one, if not the most important way of, gathering evidence to fight, highly organized crime, economical crime, corruption, amongst others. All this directs us to a new paradigm of criminal forensic investigation. Classical investigation is not enough for today’s criminality and this reinforces the need for forensic criminologists, people with a wide range of scientific knowledge that will aid the Police and Magistrates on their pursuit of criminal evidence. In this context, this thesis focus on the digital crime scene, this includes not only the internet, but also a wide array of devices concerning informatic and digital communication and storage. With this thesis we pretend to ascertain the terms in which electronic-digital evidence should be perceived, with a special focus on apprehension of electronical mail and the disharmony concerning this topic in our legal system. While trying to solve this legal conundrum we shall try to harmonize the articles 189º of the CPP, article 17º of law 109/2009 of December 15th and, concerning traffic data, law 32/2008 of July 17th. We shall conclude that the reformulation and harmonization of the existent regimes of apprehension of electronic-digital law is very much needed.

Date of Award	20 Nov 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Freitas (Supervisor)