About the e-Evidence Package

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The EU e-Evidence package consists of two pieces of EU law: Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 and Directive (EU) 2023/1544.

The EU e-Evidence package makes it faster and easier for law enforcement authorities to get electronic evidence that is relevant to a criminal investigation from service providers in another EU country. In simple terms, it helps law enforcement to quickly access electronic evidence across borders.

More and more, criminal investigations rely on digital evidence (for example emails, text messages, location data, or social media posts). However, this data is often stored in servers in a different EU country than where the investigation is taking place. Sometimes this data is stored across multiple EU countries. Before the e-Evidence package, law enforcement authorities had to use slow and complex international cooperation rules usually requiring the involvement of judicial authorities in those countries where the data is held, which could cause significant delays. The EU e-Evidence package creates a simple way for law enforcement authorities to quickly access the electronic evidence they need for a criminal investigation by allowing direct cooperation with the service provider(s) concerned - speeding up cross-border investigations and improving cooperation between EU countries.

If your organisation or company is a ‘service provider’ covered by the e-Evidence package you may receive legally binding requests from law enforcement authorities to produce data (electronic evidence) for use in criminal investigations.

For further information on the e-Evidence package, who it will apply to and the obligations under it, please see the "FAQ" and the “Definitions” page for more information.

The Criminal Justice (International Cooperation Office) Bill 2026, designed to implement the EU e-Evidence package, will provide the statutory authority for a new entity in the justice sector to be designated as the competent authority for roles required under the e-Evidence Directive and the Regulation. The Director of the new entity will be designated as Ireland’s ‘central authority’ under both the e-Evidence Regulation and Directive, and as the ‘enforcement authority’ under the e-Evidence Regulation.

Under the Directive, the ‘central authority’ under the e-Evidence package will function as the central point of contact between law enforcement authorities, service providers and central authorities in other EU countries if issues with requests for electronic evidence arise. Under the Regulation, the enforcing authority will enforce incoming production orders from other EU Member States and can impose financial penalties on service providers in the event of non-compliance with requests for electronic evidence.