Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

THE JOINT-SELECT Committee of Parliament, which will shortly begin the review of the Cybercrimes Act, is to benefit from the work of an overseas consultant.

Committee chairman Julian Robinson told The Gleaner that international best practices would be examined as part of the review.

"We have an interna-tional expert consultant who has begun work reviewing our act and drawing on best practices globally, and we will be using that report to guide our proceedings," Robin- son told The Gleaner.

He said the committee would have its first meeting shortly.

"I intend to finalise the work of the committee in about two months or so. We will be calling industry experts from the ICT industry and also those involved in cybercrimes," Robinson said.

The Cybercrimes Act was signed into law in March 2010, and its provisions require that it be subject to a revision two years after its implementation.

The Cybercrimes Act provides for legal sanctions for the criminal misuse of data and other computer-related crimes such as unauthorised access in general; unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate the commission of an offence; and interception, modifi-cation, and interference with the integrity of computer systems and data.

It is also an offence under the law to sabotage computer systems, devices, or data for the commission of an offence under any law in Jamaica.

Robinson told The Gleaner that law enforcement officials have complained that they are limited in prosecuting certain types of cybercrimes because of the absence of legislation.

"Criminals tend to be at the cutting-edge. The law must always be up to date," Robinson said.

He also noted that the frequency with which technology changed required that the act be kept under continuous review.

The members of the committee are Robinson, Mikael Phillips, Raymond Pryce, Dr Dayton Campbell, Gregory Mair, and Dr Andrew Wheatley, as well as senators Floyd Morris, Imani Duncan Pryce, Wensworth Skeffrey, Arthur Williams, and Kamina Johnson Smith.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com