Vanuatu Cybercrime Act No.22 of 2021

Explanatory Note

This Bill provides for the Cybercrime Act.

Cybercrime is a global phenomenon that poses threats to Vanuatu’s national infrastructure, public service delivery, commercial and financial security.

The Government in recognizing the need to deal with these threats, worked in collaboration with the Council of Europe and the Australian Attorney General’s Department to combat cybercrime and to protect the legitimate interests in the use and development of information technologies.

This Bill will achieve the following Policies and Strategies:

1. Priority 5, Strategy 5.1 – Cybersecurity Policy of the National ICT Policy; and
2. Goal 3, Objectives 1 and 2 of the Cyber Security Policy; and
3. Action Plan 1 and Government Direction 1 under Pillar 5 of the National Security Policy; and
4. Policy objectives 2.4 and 2.9 under Economy Goals of the National Sustainable Development Plan 2016 – 2030.

The main objectives of this Bill are:

1. to cover the criminalization and sanctioning of unauthorized actions committed by a person in different forms on and through a computer system; and
2. to cover the criminalization and sanction provisions and other related provisions in the area of computer related crimes. The aim is to protect individuals from offences that are facilitated by and through a computer system; and
3. to provide for the power and procedure for the obtaining and collecting of electronic evidence; and
4. to provide privacy safeguards and police accountability when carrying out their duties; and
5. to provide for an effective and efficient mechanism for international cooperation involving other States in providing a rapid flow of information and evidence.

Cybercrime Act No.22 of 2021