EU strengthens digital evidence processing capacities of the International Criminal Court in response to increased global needs

The European Commission and the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sealed a deal strengthening the courts’ digital evidence processing capacities in response to increased global needs.

Through the agreement the European Union (EU) provides €7.25 million crisis response funding to help the OTP process new forms of evidence more effectively.

Thanks to EU support, the Office of the Prosecutor can scale-up its data storage and processing infrastructure and build up additional analytical and forensic capacity. This includes software to automatically transcribe video evidence, allowing investigators to systematically search through large amounts of evidence. Additionally, artificial intelligence can be used to significantly enhance the ability of analysts to filter and search through video and audio material.

The enhanced digital evidence capacities of the ICC will benefit the court’s investigative work across all situations, including the investigation resulting from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The investigation was launched by the ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC following the referral of the situation in Ukraine to the ICC by 43 state parties. The measure will also support ICC capacities in other regions.