인터넷의 발달은 각종 범죄의 모의와 실행을 쉽게 할 뿐 아니라, 과거에는 예상치 못한 국제적 범죄의 발생을 수월케 하고 있지만, 이러한 사이버범죄에 대한 수사 및 법집행에 있어서 각국의 대응조치는 그 인력과 법적, 제도적, 기술적 제약으로 인하여 여러 기지 한계에 부딪치고 있고 특히 국경을 넘는 사이버범죄에 대하여는 수사에 어려움이 많기 때문에, 사이비범죄의 보다 효율적인 수사를 위해서는 각국이 사이버공간상에서 국경을 넘나들며 신속하고도 효과적인 수사를 행할 수 있는 기술적ㆍ법개도적 환경을 갖추는 일이 시급하다. 그러나 이러한 문제는 어느 한 국가의 노력만으로 해결될 수 있는 것은 아니므로 국제적 협조를 통하여 조약이나 각국의 국내법과 정책 등에 사이버범죄에 대한 종합적 대책을 입안하여 시행함으로써만이 해결될 수 있다. 종래에는 사이버범죄의 특성상 국제조약 체결에 의한 해결이 어렵다고 생각하는 견해기 많았으나, 유럽이사회에서 2004년 7월 사이버범죄조약이 발효되었고 2007년 6윌 현재 미국을 포함하여 국회의 인준을 얻은 국가가 20여개 국가로 늘어 이 조약의 중요성이 커져가고 있을 뿐 아니라, 그 가입대상을 지역적으로 한정하고 있지 않기 때문에 우리나라도 가입을 신중히 검토하지 않을 수 없는 상황에 있다. 본고에서는 이러한 문제의식을 가지고 사이버범죄분야에서의 국제형사사법공조방안에 대하여 고찰해 보고자 한다.
New technologies create new criminal opportunities but few new types of crime. What distinguishes cybercrime from traditional criminal activity? Obviously, one difference is the use of the digital computer, but technology alone is insufficient for any distinction that might exist between different realms of criminal activity. Criminals do not need a computer to commit fraud, traffic in child pornography and intellectual property, steal an identity, or violate someone's privacy. All those activities existed before the “cyber” prefix became ubiquitous. Cybercrime, especially involving the Internet, represents an extension of existing criminal behaviour alongside some novel illegal activities. Most cybercrime is an attack on information about individuals, corporations, or governments. Although the attacks do not take place on a physical body, they do take place on the personal or corporate virtual body, which is the set of informational attributes that define people and institutions on the Internet. In other words, in the digital age our virtual identities are essential elements of everyday life: we are a bundle of numbers and identifiers in multiple computer databases owned by governments and corporations. Cybercrime highlights the centrality of networked computers in our lives, as well as the fragility of such seemingly solid facts as individual identity. An important aspect of cybercrime is its nonlocal character: actions can occur in jurisdictions separated by vast distances. This poses severe problems for law enforcement since previously local or even national crimes now require international cooperation. For example, if a person accesses child pornography located on a computer in a country that does not ban child pornography, is that individual committing a crime in a nation where such materials are illegal? Where exactly does cybercrime take place? Cyberspace is simply a richer version of the space where a telephone conversation takes place, somewhere between the two people having the conversation. As a planet-spanning network, the Internet offers criminals multiple hiding places in the real world as well as in the network itself. However, just as individuals walking on the ground leave marks that a skilled tracker can follow, cybercriminals leave clues as to their identity and location, despite their best efforts to cover their tracks. In order to follow such clues across national boundaries, though, international cybercrime treaties must be ratified. In 1996 the Council of Europe, together with government representatives from the United States, Canada, and Japan, drafted a preliminary international treaty covering computer crime. Around the world, civil libertarian groups immediately protested provisions in the treaty requiring Internet service providers (ISPs) to store information on their customers' transactions and to turn this information over on demand. Work on the treaty proceeded nevertheless, and on November 23, 2001. The European Convention on Cybercrime was opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe and by non-member States which have participated in its elaboration, in Budapest, on 23 November 2001. and entered into force on 1 July 2004. The Convention is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. It also contains a series of powers and procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception. Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation. The Convention is the product of four years of work by Council of Europe experts, but also by the United States, Canada, Japan and other countries which are not members of the Organisation. It has been supplemented by an Additional Protocol making any publication of racist and xenophobic propaganda via computer networks a criminal offence.