The Cybercrime Bill 2016 was laid in the National Assembly by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams, who has asked that the Bill be sent to a special select committee for consideration before it returns to the House. This move was welcomed by opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.
The Attorney General advised that the Bill was the subject of several public consultations, and recommendations from stakeholders have been incorporated.
The Bill seeks to combat cybercrime by creating offences of cybercrime, to provide for penalties, investigation and prosecution of the offences and related matters.
The Bill explains that a person who commits an offence if intentionally, without authorisation or in excess of authorisation, or by infringing any security measure, accesses a computer system or any part of a computer system of another person, is liable on summary conviction of $3M and imprisonment for three years or on a conviction on indictment to a fine of $5M and to imprisonment for five years.
The draft legislation also deals with child pornography and child luring. The Bill states that a person who produces child pornography for the purpose of distribution through a computer system, or offers or makes available, distributes or transmits child pornography through a computer system, commits an offence.
It also states that a person who uses a computer system to arrange a meeting with a child with the intent of abusing or engaging in sexual activity with the child or producing child pornography, whether or not he takes any steps to effect such a meeting, commits child luring.
Another clause in the Bill addresses the publication or transmission of images of the private area of a person. It states that a person, who captures, stores in, publishes or transmits through a computer system, the image of the private area of another person without that other person’s consent, commits an offence.
The Bill will be examined in detail clause by clause before returning to the National Assembly. (GINA)
