Attorney General's Office (AGO) has sent three bills to the President's Office for submission to the Parliament of the Maldives. The bills include the Penal Code Amendment Bill, the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases Amendment Bill, and the Criminal Procedure Act Amendment Bill.
AGO stated that the amendment bills proposed to criminalise unauthorised acts in cyberspace and to prescribe procedural rules for such offenses. The amendments also aim to prevent such crimes from being committed by those who use technology to expand their crimes.
AGO stated that the Penal Code Amendment Bill proposes amendments to the penal code to criminalise cybercrime-related acts as cyberspace crimes are increasing in the country and such perpetrators are using technological means to expand their criminal activities.
Additionally, the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases Amendment Bill proposes amendments to reduce the increasing crime in cyberspace. Criminals are using technological tools to expand their criminal activities such as cybercrime, exchange of legal assistance with other countries in the prevention and action against other crimes committed through computer systems, and crimes involving electronic evidence.
Furthermore, the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Bill seeks to empower law enforcement agencies to prevent and crack down on cybercrime and other computer system-based offenses and crimes involving electronic evidence and to prescribe procedural rules for investigating and prosecuting such offenses.