By HANNAH NERO
JUDGES and magistrates are being introduced to the use of tactical and high-tech information with the emergence of cybercrime in the country’s criminal justice system.
A two-day symposium on the subject began in Port Moresby yesterday.
The conference would focus on cybercrime and electronic evidence in PNG. It was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, and also included other staff and members of the Judiciary.
Addressing the symposium, Justice Les Gavara-Nanu said: “Papua New Guinea is at the crossroads in experiencing this change in landscape in our criminal justice system. We are used to dealing with conventional crimes which, under the Summary Offences Act and the Criminal Code, basically require paper and other physical variables for proof.
“Cybercrime is a new phenomenon which is tactical and requires tactical and high-tech information, requiring expert witnesses for proof.
“We obviously need assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat to deal with these types of cases, from investigation, detection, to prosecution and adjudication which is what concerns judges and magistrates as adjudicators,” Justice Gavara-Nanu said.
Assistant secretary-general for the Commonwealth Secretariat, Luis Franceschi, said: “We continue to face complex challenges when dealing with cybercrime, and cyber security.
“Technology, and especially the Internet, has been an indispensable part of our daily lives. We do not know how we will live today without the internet,” Franceschi said.