Electronic evidence management: adoption of standard operating procedures for admisability of electronic evidence in the Ugandan courts of law
Loading...
Date
2017-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University,School of Computing and Information Technology
Abstract
The study intended to establish the level of awareness of electronic evidence (e-evidence)
management of the people entrusted with the duty of electronic crime investigations so that
question of how to adopt standard operating procedures (SOPs) can be answered. The study was
guided by three specific objectives; (i) to determine the operational knowledge level and
awareness of SOPs in regard to electronic evidence management among e-crirne investigators in
Uganda (ii) to examine the current level of admissibility of c-evidence in Ugandan courts of law
presented by e-crirne investigators and (iii) to establish how internationally accepted e-evidence
management SOPs may be adopted as standard operating procedures in Uganda for admissibility
of c-evidence in Ugandan courts of law? The study comprised of a target population of 55
respondents from which the sample size of 48 was arrived at using Solven’s formula of
Sampling. The study was based on sampling techniques; Multistage sampling in which the
researcher started with organizations in Uganda that are majoring in electronic evidence
management; Cyber crime unit, Directorate of forensic services, Directorate of investigations of the Uganda Police Force, NITA-Uganda, URA, GAL, UCC and Private forensics labs. The data
collection instruments were basically self-administered questionnaires, which comprised of open
and closed-ended questions, interview guide and analysis ofjournals. The following respondents
were approached; Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCOs), Technical staff, Electronic evidence
analysts, Investigators, Common police officers and private investigators with c-evidence
exposure. 48.6 of the respondents were less exposed to c-evidence management for a period of 0
to 3 years where as 12 years and above of exposure to c-evidence management were the minority
with 2.7 percent of the total respondents. 54.1 percent of the respondents confirmed that non
qualified staff always responds to crime scenes which is detrimental to electronic evidence
management. However, it was evident that the respondents in the organizations visited by the
researcher were theoretically exposed to foreign SOPs without adopting their own. Research
described measures to be undertaken if adoption is to of SOPs is to take place, equip forensic
labs with routine upgrades, train their staff and the field response teams like SOCOs among
others, and to have a memorandum of understanding among different organizations involved,
and with other foreign countries so that there is partnership in recovering c-evidence from those
countries where perpetrators could hide or commit cyber crimes.
Description
A Thesis Presented to the Directorate of Higher Degrees and Research Kampala International University Kansanga, Uganda in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master’s Degree in Information Systems
Keywords
Electronic, Evidence, Management