Strategic approaches to professional development on cybercrime and electronic evidence for law enforcement in Tajikistan discussed at OSCE workshop

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department held a workshop for 20 senior representatives of law enforcement agencies in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 1 and 2 May. The workshop was aimed at strengthening national capacities to provide systematic and sustainable professional training and development on cybercrime and electronic evidence to law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners.

“The lack of knowledge and skills in conducting criminal investigations that involve digital technologies poses one of the main challenges for effectively combating cybercrime and other crimes involving electronic evidence. As digital technologies keep evolving and transforming the criminal landscape, having a long-term and structured approach to education and training of law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners is essential,” said Tatiana Turcan, Acting Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, during her opening remarks. 

Participants from the Tajik Interior Ministry and Academy, Ministry of Justice, Office of the Prosecutor General and other government agencies discussed the development of a national competency framework and a training strategy. The competency framework defines the necessary skill sets and levels for various law enforcement and criminal justice roles involved in the investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes and other crimes involving electronic evidence. The training strategy outlines a plan for the development and provision of professional training to build the necessary competencies and address the skill gaps and requirements outlined in the competency framework.

“Today, electronic evidence is playing an increasingly important role in almost all criminal investigations. For this reason, we have established a working group to discuss updates to the Criminal Procedural Code of Tajikistan,” said Suhrob Kalandarzoda, Deputy Head of the Department for International Relations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Having adequate training and professional development programmes is crucial to ensure that practitioners understand and can effectively apply these new legal procedures, including how to identify, collect, preserve, analyse and present electronic evidence, which is becoming a core component of modern criminal justice systems.

The workshop followed the regional event on this topic held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in December 2024 and was implemented under the second phase of the OSCE’s regional capacity-building project on combating cybercrime in Central Asia, launched in September 2024 and funded by Germany and the United States of America.