Antigua toughens legislation dealing with cybercrime

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda Parliament has given the green light to legislation allowing for fines as high as one million Eastern Caribbean dollars for anyone or any company convicted of failing to provide electronic information requested by law enforcement during criminal investigations.

Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin, who piloted the Electronic Crimes Amendment Bill, said the new measures are intended to address longstanding difficulties investigators face in obtaining electronic records and data needed to solve crimes.

“The police would need evidence of pinging from telephones, different posts, et cetera, to get a trace of how crimes have been committed. But the service providers are refusing to do so,” Benjamin told legislators.

Under the amended legislation, a person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a production order within the specified time can face a fine of up to EC$100,000, imprisonment, or both upon summary conviction.

Upon conviction on indictment, penalties increase to a fine of up to one million EC dollars, imprisonment for up to seven years, or both.

Benjamin said the government was particularly concerned about situations in which local managers of telecommunications companies and other service providers claimed they were unable to comply because instructions had to come from overseas headquarters.

“Some of their supervisors and managers are overseas. We have broadened this now. We are naming the managers who are here, the people in control of the company,” he said, telling Parliament that companies operating in Antigua and Barbuda must cooperate with lawful requests for information rather than delay investigations by referring authorities to foreign-based executives.

During the debate, Education Minister Daryll Matthew recalled a recent incident in which he had been the victim of a sophisticated financial crime.

“I fell victim to financial crime,” Matthew said, adding that his bank is currently handling the matter.

The bill also received support from the opposition, with one legislator saying, “I think the government is doing quite an admirable thing in coming to the Parliament to ensure that information can be retrieved from them.”

The government said the amendments form part of its broader effort to strengthen the country’s ability to investigate cybercrime, financial fraud, and other offences that increasingly rely on digital communications and electronic records.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.