When fraud is suspected, or in civil legal disputes, there is a growing need to secure information from other parties to prevent its destruction or other loss.
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Securing information using evidence seizures
The securing of information is increasingly done through the execution of evidence seizures so that the information can be thoroughly investigated (if necessary). In the current era of ever-increasing digitalisation, this mainly involves securing digital data, often in large quantities, which involves quite a few considerations.
For instance, the information must be secured with great care so that it can actually serve as evidence in legal proceedings. Hoffmann has years of experience in carrying out digital evidence seizures and only works with experienced digital forensic investigators/IT specialists. We can therefore guarantee the careful securing of digital information.
Real-world examples
- One of your executives is starting up his own business and you have evidence that he has brought important know-how with him in breach of his confidentiality clause. In fact, your log files show that numerous files were copied just before his departure.
- You hear from a loyal customer that a recently departed sales employee has approached him on behalf of a competitor. This violates his non-compete agreement. And then the preliminary investigation also reveals that a broad range of information has been taken.
How do digital evidence seizures work?
You need to go through a number of steps to seize evidence and subsequently access documents and digital data. Success is largely determined by the diligence with which you work.
Stap 1: petitioning the court
First of all, to be able to seize evidence, you need permission (to seize) from the court. To do so, your lawyer must submit a petition, and this must meet several requirements. For instance, your lawyer must properly substantiate the petition and indicate where, from whom and what to seize. The latter should be quite specific, as "fishing expeditions" are not allowed. Your lawyer must also indicate why the evidence cannot be obtained in any other way.
Do you have permission from the court? Then this permission only applies to the seizure. To inspect and examine the seized material, you will need permission again at a later point.
When drafting the petition, it is important that your lawyer clearly and fully describe what is to be seized. In practice, for instance, we regularly see that cloud data is not included in the petition. Consequently, it may not be seized. What a missed opportunity! So always have the petition checked beforehand by one of our digital forensic investigators.
Step 2: seizure
Once permission to seize has been granted, you can proceed with the seizure. This is done by a bailiff, who may be assisted by the police (a deputised public prosecutor), a locksmith and one or more (digital) experts if necessary. The other party is obliged to cooperate with the seizure, for example by providing passwords and login details to the bailiff. This can be enforced by including a penalty in the petition.
Hoffmann’s (digital) specialists can assist the bailiff in the seizure. In doing so, we carefully coordinate the execution with the bailiff, from conducting surveillance on the other party to check whether they are at home to sealing and taking custody of the seized material. Upon completion, we draw up a report stating what has been seized. We send this report to the bailiff, who prepares a report of the seizure and attaches this report.
Step 3: preservation
Once (copies) of the data have been seized, they must be given to an independent custodian for safekeeping. The data remains in custody until the other party, the third party or the court has given you permission to inspect it.
You can entrust the seized data to the bailiff who carries out the seizure. We will work with the bailiff to seal the data so that its integrity is preserved.
Step 4: inspection
You must then ask the court for access to inspect and investigate the data that has been seized. This can be done through an interim injunction or a trial on the merits.
Once the judge has given you permission to inspect the data, Hoffmann’s (digital) forensic investigators can carry out the investigation for you.
Prior to the seizure of the evidence, we make clear and transparent agreements with you about how this will be carried out and the associated costs. There is often considerable time pressure to secure digital data. It is precisely because of our broad expertise that we can proceed very swiftly in nearly every case, thus securing your interests.
Would you like to know more about digital evidence seizures?
Do you have questions or need immediate advice? Then please do not hesitate to contact us without further obligation. Our specialists are at your service.
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