Elecrimes act No14.indd
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT, 2013
No. 14 of 2013
[Published in the Offi cial Gazette Vol. XXXIII No. 65
dated 14th November, 2013]
________
Printed at the Government Printing Offi ce, Antigua and Barbuda,
by Ralph George, Government Printer
— By Authority, 2013.
600—11.13 [ Price $ 7.85 ]
Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 20132
No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT, 2013
ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
PART II
OFFENCES
3. Access and interference
4. Sending offensive messages through communication services, etc
5. Identify theft
6. Electronic forgery
7. Electronic fraud
8. Violation of privacy
9. Misuse of encryption
10. Child pornography
11. Sensitive electronic system
12. Electronic terrorism
13. Harassment utilizing means of electronic system
14. False websites and Spam
15. Unauthorised access to code
PART III
INVESTIGATIONS AND PROCEDURES
16. Preservation order
17. Disclosure of preserved data order
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
18. Production order
19. Powers of access, search and seizure for the purpose of investigation
20. Real time collection of traffi c data
21. Mobile phone tracking in emergencies
22. Arrest without warrant
23. Deletion
24. Limited use of data and information
25. No liability for service provider
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS
26. Institution of criminal proceedings
27. General penalty for Body Corporate
28. Extraditable offences
29. Order for compensation
30. Forfeiture
31. Regulations
32. Confl ict of laws
4 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
32. Confl ict of laws
Where a provision of this Act confl icts with any other enactment of Antigua and Barbuda, this Act
shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Passed the House of Representatives Passed the Senate on the 11th September,
on the 28th August, 2013. 2013.
D. Gisele Isaac-Arrindell, Hazlyn M. Francis,
Speaker. President.
Romona Small, Romona Small,
Clerk to the House of Representatives. Clerk to the Senate.
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(b) be attributable to the failure of any such director, manager, secretary, or other
offi cer or person, to exercise all such reasonable diligence as he ought in the circum-
stances to have exercised to prevent the offence, having regard to the nature of his pow-
ers and all the circumstances,
the director, manager, secretary or other offi cer or person as aforesaid, as well as the body corporate
commit that offence, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be a director of a body corporate
if he occupies in relation thereto, the position of a director, by whatever name called, or is a person
in accordance with whose directions or instructions (not being directions or instructions in a profes-
sional capacity only) the directors and the body corporate or any of them, act.
28. Extraditable offences
An offence pursuant to Part II shall be considered to be an extraditable crime for which extradition
may be granted or obtained under the Extradition Act 1993.
29. Order for compensation
(1) A Court before which a person is convicted of an offence under this Act may make an order
against that person for the payment by that person of a sum of money fi xed by the Court by way of
compensation to a person for damage caused to his or her electronic system, program or data by the
offence in respect of which the sentence is passed.
(2) A claim by a person for damages sustained by reason of the offence shall be deemed to have
been satisfi ed to the extent of any amount which has been paid to him or her under an order for
compensation, except that the order shall not prejudice any right to a civil remedy for the recovery
of damages beyond the amount of compensation paid under the order.
(3) An order for compensation under this section shall be recoverable as a civil debt.
30. Forfeiture
(1) The Court before which a person is convicted of an offence under this Act may, in addition
to any penalty imposed, order the forfeiture of any apparatus, article or thing which is the subject
matter of the offence or is used in connection with the commission of the offence.
(2) In addition to making an order that any obscene matter forming part of the subject matter of
the offence is forfeited, the Court shall, where appropriate, order that the obscene matter be deleted
from or no longer stored or made available through the electronic system.
31. Regulations
The Minister may make Regulations for the purposes of giving effect to the provisions of this Act.
20 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
[L.S.]
I Assent,
Louise Lake-Tack,
Governor-General.
28th October, 2013.
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT, 2013
No. 14 of 2013
AN ACT to provide for the prevention and punishment of electronic crimes and for related matters.
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate and House of Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, and by the authority of the same
as follows –
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Electronic Crimes Act, 2013.
2. Interpretation
In this Act –
“access” in the context of an electronic system means to communicate with, store data in,
retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any of the resources of the electronic system;
“child pornography” means pornographic material that depicts, presents or represents-
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(a) a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or
(b) an image representing a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct;
“contaminant" means a set of electronic instructions that are designed to modify, destroy, re-
cord, transmit data or program residing within an electronic system; or by any means to take
over the normal operation of an electronic system or electronic network;
“damage” includes modifying, altering, deleting, erasing, suppressing, changing location or
making data temporarily unavailable, halting an electronic system or chocking the networks;
“data” includes representations of facts, information or concepts that are being prepared or
have been prepared in a form suitable for use in an electronic system including electronic
program, text, images, sound, video and information within a database or electronic system;
“decryption” means the process of transforming or unscrambling encrypted data from its un-
readable and incomprehensible format to its plain version;
“electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, biome-
tric, electrochemical, wireless, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities;
"electronic database" means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or
instructions in text, image, audio, video that are being prepared or have been prepared in a
formalised manner or have been produced by an electronic system or electronic network and
are intended for use in an electronic system or electronic network;
“electronic device” is any hardware that accomplishes its functions using any form or combi-
nation of electrical energy;
“electronic system” means an electronic device or a group of interconnected or related devic-
es, one or more of which, pursuant to a program, performs automatic processing of data and
includes an electronic storage medium;
“encryption” means the process whereby data is transformed or scrambled from its plain ver-
sion to an unreadable or incomprehensible format, regardless of the technique utilized for
such transformation or scrambling and irrespective of the medium in which such data occurs
or can be found for the purposes of protecting such data;
“function” includes logic, control, arithmetic, deletion, storage and retrieval and communica-
tion or telecommunication to, from or within an electronic system;
“mobile phone tracking” means the tracking of the current position of a mobile phone and in-
cludes location based services that discloses the actual coordinates of a mobile phone bearer;
6 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
offences, apprehending or prosecuting offenders, assessing or collecting tax, duty or
other monies owed or payable to the Government;
(d) for the prevention of injury or other damage to the health of a person or serious
loss or damage to property; or
(e) in the public interest.
25. No liability for service provider
(1) A service provider shall not be liable for any actions taken or any information provided or
disclosed to the Police or other law enforcement agencies in accordance with this Part.
(2) A service provider who without lawful authority discloses-
(a) the fact that an order under this Part was made; and
(b) any action taken or data collected or recorded under the Order, commits a sum-
mary offence and is liable on conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand
dollars.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS
26. Institution of criminal proceedings
Criminal proceedings shall not be instituted under this Act except with the consent of, the Director
of Public Prosecutions.
27. General penalty for Body Corporate
(1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate, the body corporate shall
be liable upon–
(a) summary conviction, to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to a
term of imprisonment not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(b) conviction on indictment, to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars or
to a term of imprisonment not exceeding eight years, or to both.
(2) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to–
(a) have been committed with the consent or connivance of any director, manager,
secretary, or other similar offi cer of the body corporate or any person who was purport-
ing to act in that capacity; or
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(a) allowing the collection or recording of traffi c data, in real time, associated with specifi ed
communications transmitted by means of an electronic system; or
(b) compelling a service provider, within its technical capabilities to effect such collection
and recording referred to in paragraph (a) or assist the police offi cer to effect such col-
lection and recording.
21. Mobile phone tracking in emergencies
(1) A mobile phone service provider shall provide mobile phone tracking to the Royal Police
Force of Antigua and Barbuda upon request in cases of emergencies with respect to the mobile
phone of a person involved in such emergency.
(2) For the purpose of this section, “cases of emergency” include cases of accidents, missing
persons and the pursuit of suspects involved in murder, rape, kidnapping or any indictable offence
punishable by at least fi ve years imprisonment or more.
(3) A mobile phone provider who contravenes subsection (1) commits a summary offence and is
liable on conviction to a fi ne of twenty fi ve thousand dollars.
22. Arrest without warrant
A police offi cer may, without warrant, arrest a person reasonably suspected of committing an of-
fence under this Act.
23. Deletion
A Magistrate/Judge in Chambers may, on application by a police offi cer and being satisfi ed that an
electronic system contains data that contains indecent photographs of children, order that the data
be–
(a) no longer stored on or be made available through the electronic system; or
(b) deleted or destroyed.
24. Limited use of data and information
A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation use or disclose data obtained
pursuant to this Part for any purpose other than that for which the data was originally sought except–
(a) in accordance with any other enactment;
(b) in compliance with an order of the Magistrate/ Judge in Chambers;
(c) where the data is required for the purpose of preventing, detecting or investigating
18 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
“plain version” means original data before it has been transformed or scrambled to an unread-
able or incomprehensible format;
“service provider” means–
(a) a person who provides an information and communication service including the
sending, receiving, storing or processing of the electronic communication or the
provision of other services in relation to it through an electronic system;
(b) a person who owns, possesses, operates, manages or controls a public switched
network or provides telecommunications services; or
(c) any other person that processes or stores data on behalf of such electronic com-
munication service or users of search service;
“source code” means the listing of programs, electronic commands, design and layout and
program analysis of an electronic system in any form;
“subscriber” means a person using the services of a service provider;
“subscriber information” means any information contained in any form that is held by a ser-
vice provider, relating to subscribers of its services other than traffi c data and by which can
be established,
(a) the type of communication service used, the technical provisions taken there to
and the period of service;
(b) the subscriber’s identity, postal or geographic address, telephone and other
access number, billing and payment information, available on the basis of the ser-
vice agreement or arrangement; or
(c) any other information on the site of the installation of communication equipment,
available on the basis of the service agreement or arrangement;
“traffi c data” means any data relating to a communication by means of an electronic system,
generated by an electronic system that formed a part in the chain of communication, indi-
cating the communication’s origin, destination, route, time, date, size, duration, or type of
underlying service; and
“unauthorized access” means access of any kind by a person to an electronic system or data
held in an electronic system which is unauthorized or done without authority or is in excess of
authority, if the person is not himself entitled to control access of the kind in question to the
electronic system or data and the person does not have consent to such access from a person
so entitled.
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
PART II
OFFENCES
3. Access and interference
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation,–
(a) access an electronic system or network;
(b) download, copy or extract data, electronic database or information from such electronic
system or network including information or data held or stored in a removable storage
medium;
(c) introduce or cause to be introduced a contaminant or malicious code into an electronic
system or network;
(d) damage or cause to be damaged an electronic system or network, data, electronic data
base or other program residing in such electronic system or network;
(e) disrupt or causes disruption of an electronic system or network;
(f) deny or cause the denial of access to a person authorised to access an electronic system
or network by any means;
(g) provide assistance to a person to facilitate access to an electronic system or network in
contravention of the provisions of this Act;
(h) charge the services availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering
with or manipulating an electronic system or network;
(i) willfully destroy, delete or alter information residing in an electronic system or diminish
its value or utility, or affect it injuriously by any means; or
(j) steal, conceal, destroy or alter or cause a person to steal, conceal, destroy or alter any
source code used for an electronic system with an intention to cause damage.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(i) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(ii) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
8 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
(b) use or cause to be used an electronic system to search any data contained in or available
to the electronic system;
(c) access any information, code or technology which has the capability of transforming or
unscrambling encrypted data contained or available to an electronic system into readable
and comprehensible format or text for the purpose of investigating any offence under
this Act or any other offence which is disclosed in the course of the lawful exercise of
the powers under this section;
(d) require a person in possession of the decryption information to grant the police offi cer
access to such decryption information necessary to decrypt data required for required for
the purpose of investigating the offence;
(e) seize or secure an electronic system.
(3) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation –
(a) obstruct a police offi cer in the exercise of the police offi cer’s powers under this section;
or
(b) fail to comply with a request made by a police offi cer under this section.
(4) A person who contravenes subsection (3) commits a summary offence and is liable on con-
viction to a fi ne not exceeding fi fty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
twelve months, or both.
(5) For the purposes of this section–
“decryption information” means information or technology that enables a person to readily
re-transform or unscramble encrypted data from its unreadable and incomprehensible format
to its plain text version;
“encrypted data” means data which has been transformed or scrambled from its plain text
version to an unreadable and incomprehensible format, regardless of the technique utilized
for transformation or scrambling, and irrespective of the medium in which such data occurs or
can be found for the purposes of protecting the content of such data; and
“plain text version” means original data before it has been transformed or scrambled to an
unreadable or incomprehensible format.
20. Real time collection of traffi c data
Where a police offi cer has reasonable grounds to believe that any data would be relevant for the
purposes of investigation and prosecution of an offence under this Act, the police offi cer may apply
to a Magistrate/Judge in Chambers for an Order–
17
Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(a) any preserved data, irrespective of whether one or more service providers were involved
in the transmission of the data;
(b) suffi cient data to identify the service providers and the path through which the data was
transmitted; or
(c) the electronic key enabling access to or the interpretation of data.
18. Production order
(1) If the disclosure of data is required for the purpose of a criminal investigation or the pros-
ecution of an offence, a police offi cer may apply to a Magistrate/Judge in Chambers for an Order
compelling–
(2) If the disclosure of data is required for the purpose of a criminal investigation or the prose-
cution of an offence, a police offi cer shall make a request of–
(a) a person to submit specifi ed data in that person’s possession or control, which is stored
in an electronic system;
(b) a service provider offering its services to submit subscriber information in relation to
the services in that service provider’s possession and control.
(3) Where any material to which an investigation relates consists of data stored in an electronic
system, disc, cassette, or on microfi lm or preserved by any mechanical or electronic device, the re-
quest shall be deemed to require the person to produce or give access to it in a form in which it can
be taken away and in which it is visible, audible or legible.
(4) A person or service provider who refuses to produce the information under subsection (1)
commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fi ne of one hundred thousand dollars
or to imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or to both.
19. Powers of access, search and seizure for the purpose of investigation
(1) Where a police offi cer has reason to believe that stored data would be relevant for the purpos-
es of an investigation or the prosecution of an offence, the police offi cer may apply to a Magistrate/
Judge in Chambers for the issue of a warrant to enter any premises to access, search and seize that
data.
(2) In the execution of a warrant under subsection (1), the powers of the police offi cer shall
include the power to–
(a) access, inspect and check the operation of an electronic system;
16 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
4. Sending offensive messages through communication services, etc
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation send by means of an
electronic system –
(a) information that is offensive or threatening;
(b) information which is false, causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction,
insult, injury, intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such
electronic system or an electronic device; or
(c) electronic mail or an electronic message for the purpose of causing annoyance or incon-
venience, or to deceive or mislead the recipient as to the origin of such message.
(2) For the purpose of this section, the term “electronic mail” or “electronic message” means
a message or information created or transmitted or received on an electronic system or electronic
device including attachments in text, images, audio, video and any other electronic record which
may be transmitted with the message.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(i) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(ii) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
5. Identify theft
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation make fraudulent or
dishonest use of an electronic signature, password or other unique identifi cation feature of another
person.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(i) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(ii) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
6. Electronic forgery
A person who, with intent to defraud, inputs, alters, deletes, or suppresses computer data, resulting
in inauthentic data, whether or not the data is directly readable and intelligible, commits an offence
and is liable on-
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Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(i) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to im-
prisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(ii) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
7. Electronic fraud
(1) A person shall not, intentionally or without lawful excuse or justifi cation, induce another
person to enter into a relationship, with the intent to defraud that person or cause that person to act
to his own detriment or suffer loss of property, by –
(a) any input, alteration, deletion or suppression of data; or
(b) any interference with the functioning of an electronic system.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to impris-
onment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both; or
(b) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
8. Violation of privacy
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person who, intentionally or without lawful excuse or justifi ca-
tion, captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of a person, or the image whether
whole or partial of a person in a vulnerable position without his or her consent, under circumstances
violating the privacy of that person, commits an offence and is liable on –
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to impris-
onment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred and fi fty thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fi ve years, or to both.
(2) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable to face the same penalty
specifi ed in that subsection, where the victim of the offence is disabled or mentally incapacitated
and incapable of giving his or her consent.
(3) For the purposes of this section–
“capture” with respect to an image, means to videotape, photograph, fi lm or record by any
means;
10 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to impris-
onment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding fi ve years, or to both.
15. Unauthorised access to code
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation disclose or obtain a
password, an access code or any other means of gaining access to an electronic system or data with
intent to obtain wrongful gain or infl ict wrongful loss to a person or for any unlawful purpose.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne of two hundred thousand dollars or to three years impris-
onment, or to both; or
(b) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars and to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to both.
PART III
INVESTIGATIONS AND PROCEDURES
16. Preservation order
(1) A police offi cer may apply to a Magistrate/Judge in Chambers for an Order for the expedi-
tious preservation of data that has been stored or processed by means of an electronic system, where
there are reasonable grounds to believe that the data is vulnerable to loss or modifi cation and where
such data is required for the purposes of a criminal investigation or the prosecution of an offence.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), data includes traffi c data and subscriber information.
(3) An Order made under subsection (1) remains in force–
(a) until such time as may be reasonably be required for the investigation of an offence;
(b) where prosecution is instituted, until the fi nal determination of the case; or
(c) until such time as the Magistrate/Judge in Chambers determines necessary.
17. Disclosure of preserved data order
A police offi cer may, for the purposes of a criminal investigation or the prosecution of an offence,
apply to a Magistrate/Judge in Chambers for an Order for the disclosure of–
15
Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
to cause injury to the interests of the sovereignty of Antigua and Barbuda, the security
of Antigua and Barbuda, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or
morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, or
to the advantage of any foreign nation, group of individuals or otherwise,
commits an indictable offence of electronic terrorism and is liable on conviction pursuant to the
penalties prescribed pursuant to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
13. Harassment utilizing means of electronic system
A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation intimidate, coerce or harass
another person using an electronic system commits an offence and is liable on –
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to impris-
onment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding fi ve years, or to both.
14. False websites and Spam
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation set up a website or
send an electronic message with a counterfeit source –
(a) with the intention that the recipient or visitor or an electronic system will believe it to be
an authentic source; or
(b) to attract or solicit a person or electronic system;
for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to commit a further offence or obtain information
which can be used for unlawful purposes.
(2) A person shall not intentionally without lawful excuse or justifi cation –
(a) initiate the transmission of multiple electronic mail messages from or through an elec-
tronic system;
(b) use a protected computer system to relay or retransmit multiple electronic mail messages,
with the intent to deceive or mislead users, or any electronic mail or internet service
provider, as to the origin of such messages; or
(c) materially falsify header information in multiple electronic mail messages and initiate
the transmission of such messages.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable on –
14 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
“private area” means the naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female
breast;
“publishes” means reproduction in the printed or electronic form and making it available for
public;
“transmit” means to electronically send a visual image with the intent that it be viewed by a
person or persons;
“under circumstances violating privacy” means circumstances in which a person can have a
reasonable expectation that –
(i) he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that an image of his or
her private area was being captured; or
(ii) any part of his or her private area would not be visible to the public, regardless of
whether that person is in a public or private place.
“vulnerable position” means circumstances in which a person is ill, injured or otherwise phys-
ically incapacitated.
9. Misuse of encryption
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation for the purpose of
commission of an offence or concealment of incriminating evidence, intentionally encrypt any in-
criminating communication or data contained in an electronic system relating to the offence or
incriminating evidence.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on-
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to impris-
onment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding two hundred and fi fty thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fi ve years, or to both.
10. Child pornography
(1) For the purposes of this section a “child” means a person who is under the age of eighteen
years.
(2) A person shall not intentionally without lawful justifi cation or excuse–
(a) publish, transmit or cause to be published or transmitted material in an electronic form
which depicts a child engaged in a sexually explicit act or conduct;
11
Electronic Crimes Act, 2013 No. 14 of 2013
(b) create text or digital images, collect, seek, browse, download, advertise, promote, ex-
change or distribute material in an electronic form depicting a child in an obscene or
indecent or sexually explicit manner;
(c) cultivate, entice or induce a child into an online relationship with another child or an
adult for a sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on an
electronic system;
(d) facilitate the abuse of a child online;
(e) record or own in an electronic form material which depicts the abuse of a child engaged
in a sexually explicit act;
(f) procure or obtain child pornography through a computer system; or
(g) obtain access through information and communication technologies, to child pornogra-
phy.
(3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence under subsection (2) paragraphs (f) and (g) where
the person can establish that the child pornography was for a bona fi de law enforcement purpose.
(4) A person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and is liable on-
(a) summary conviction to a fi ne of three hundred thousand dollars or to three years
imprisonment, or to both; or
(b) conviction on indictment to a fi ne not exceeding fi ve hundred thousand dollars and to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years or to both.
(5) Subsection (2) does not apply to a book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation
or fi gure or writing in an electronic form–
(a) the publication of which is proved to be justifi ed as being for the public good on the
ground that such book, pamphlet, paper, writing drawing, painting representation or fi g-
ure is the interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of general concern;
or
(b) which is kept or used for bona fi de heritage or religious purposes.
11. Sensitive electronic system
(1) A person shall not intentionally, without lawful excuse or justifi cation disable or obtain ac-
cess to a sensitive electronic system whether or not in the course of commission of another offence
under this Act.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an indictable offence and is liable on
12 No. 14 of 2013 Electronic Crimes Act, 2013
conviction to a fi ne not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding twenty years or to both.
(3) For the purposes of this section a “sensitive electronic system” is an electronic system used
directly in connection with or necessary for–
(a) the security, defence or international relations of Antigua and Barbuda ;
(b) the existence or identity of a confi dential source of information relating to the enforce-
ment of criminal law;
(c) the provision of services directly related to communications infrastructure, banking and
fi nancial services, public utilities, courts, public transportation or public key infrastruc-
ture;
(d) the protection of public safety including systems related to essential emergency services
such as police, civil defence and medical services; or
(e) the purpose declared as such by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette.
12. Electronic terrorism
A person who–
(a) with intent to threaten the peace, security or sovereignty of Antigua and Barbuda or to
strike terror in the people or any section of the people by–
(i) denying or causing the denial of access to any person authorised to access an elec-
tronic system;
(ii) attempting to penetrate or access an electronic system without authorisation or
exceeding authorised access; or
(iii) introducing or causing to introduce any contaminant into an electronic system,
and by means of such conduct causes or is likely to cause death or injury to persons or damage to
or destruction of property or disrupts or knowing that it is likely to cause damage or disruption of
supplies or services essential to the life of the community or adversely affect the critical information
infrastructure relating to the security of Antigua and Barbuda, or
(b) intentionally penetrates or accesses an electronic system without lawful authorization
and by means of such conduct obtains access to information, data or electronic database
that is restricted for reasons for the security of Antigua and Barbuda or foreign relations,
or any restricted information, data or electronic database, with reasons to believe that
such information, data or electronic database so obtained may be used to cause or likely
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