Stakeholders in Reform in the Global System for Mutual Legal Assistance
Peter Swire & Justin D. Hemmings
forthcoming chapter in Systematic Government Access to Private-Sector Data (Oxford University Press)
The chapter identifies the stakeholders in the international MLA regime and their respective incentives and goals for reform. This article examines the interests of the US government, non-US governments, technology companies, and public interest groups both in the US and abroad, to inform debates about what reforms are practical and desirable.
Mutual Legal Assistance in an Era of Globalized Communications: The Analogy to the Visa Waiver Program
Peter Swire & Justin D. Hemmings
NYU Annual Survey of American Law, Vol. 71 2017
This article contends that MLATs today are emerging as a key component of multiple legal and policy debates. Drastically improving the mutual legal assistance (MLA) process has become important, not only for accurate adjudication in individual cases, but also for supporting a globally open and inter-operable Internet against calls for data localization and institution of other stricter national controls on the Internet.
Understanding the French Criminal Justice System as a Tool for Reforming International Legal Cooperation and Cross-Border Data Requests
Suzanne Vergnolle
forthcoming in Data Protection, Privacy, and European Regulation in the Digital Age (Helsinki University Press)
This chapter provides a detailed case study of the French system for exchanging criminal evidence with the United States – focusing on the procedural aspects of how France makes or receives MLAT requests. This chapter explains ways that French investigative authorities have broader powers than their American counterparts, as well as safeguards for individuals’ rights during the French criminal investigation process.
A Mutual Legal Assistance Case Study: The United States and France
Peter Swire, Justin D. Hemmings, & Suzanne Vergnolle
Wisconsin International Law Journal, January 19, 2017
The article examines the substantive rules that apply for MLA requests involving the United States and France, complementing the procedural rules discussed in the previous article. We believe a relatively detailed explanation of the two regimes will be helpful to discussions of MLA reform, because few participants in such debates are experts in both US and French criminal law and procedure.
How Both Europe and the U.S. are “Stricter” than Each Other for the Privacy of Government Requests for Information
Peter Swire & DeBrae Kennedy-Mayo
Emory Law Journal, Vol. 66, 2016
The article examines ways that the US and the European Union (EU) each offer stricter privacy protections for government access to data, contrary to the common assumption that EU privacy law is generally stricter than U.S. law. The analysis builds on our French case studies to show broader implications for MLA reform. The analysis also is highly relevant for current policy debates and law suits concerning whether the US has “adequate” safeguards for privacy, a legal condition for many transfers of personal data from the EU to the US.
Beyond Location: Data Security in the 21st Century
Deven R. Desai
Communications of the ACM, January 2013
This article examines the tensions between desires for data security and integrity and a government’s interest in access to data. It uses cloud computing as a lens to show that modern data management enhances data security and integrity by breaking up and moving data similar to the way power grids are managed. That reality indicates a need to move away from location-based approaches to jurisdiction. It also means that we need to develop a new system that allows those with desired data to respond to legitimate government requests for data.