Cross border access to digital evidence in the EU: protecting defendants’ rights and professional secrecy

When investigators in one EU country need digital evidence that is stored on servers in another EU country, they should be able to request it more easily in the future. However, it must be ensured that defendants and lawyers keep the same rights as in purely domestic investigations. In addition, professional secrets (for example lawyer client confidentiality) should remain protected in cross border requests. German laws should be modernized overall and better aligned with the new EU rules.