A prova digital em processo penal

: apreensão de correio eletrónico: (proposta de alteração do art. 17.º e acórdão do tribunal constitucional n.º 687/2021)

Abstract

The new information and communication technologies transformed modern societies into real and permanent informational and communicational societies, since technology stormed every aspect of our daily lives. However, electronic communications, albeit the undeniable benefits, expose us to novel and diverse hazards, inciting evolved categories of cybercrime. Acknowledging the unstable, disperse and immaterial nature of digital evidence it is imperative to adapt criminal laws to the new crimes committed by electronic means, prompting the legislator to add to criminal investigation new ways to obtain digital evidence, adapted to the digital environment, to guarantee the proof’s integrity and evidential value. Consequently, the electronic mail interceptions and apprehensions currently configure one of the most important means to obtain proof when tackling cybercrime, resulting in a new standard of criminal investigation, that cannot be investigated using the traditional methods, due to its characteristics and nature. In this context, this dissertation consists of the procedural matters regarding electronic mail apprehensions, with the intention to analyse the current procedural provisions in the Portuguese legal system that regulates the obtention of digital evidence, bringing into discussion the conciliation of the regimes established in the Cybercrime Law and in the various procedural provisions enshrined in the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the acquisition of digital evidence. The proposal to amend art. 17.º of the Cybercrime Law, as well as the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court that responded to the above-mentioned proposal, will also be analysed.

Date of Award	20 Sept 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Freitas (Supervisor)