The world saw the holding of the mammoth International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, 2023 in New Delhi. The said conference was organized by Cyberlaws.Net and Pavan Duggal Associates, Advocates on 29, 30 November & 1 December, 2023 at Scope Convention Centre, Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi The Conference 2023 was supported by UNESCO, UNODC, University For Peace of United Nations, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Society, Ecommerce Forum Africa, Globethics.Net, EC Medici Framework and Association of Indian Universities. The Conference 2023 had 46 different sessions with more than 250 speakers over three-day deliberations from different parts of the world. The conference discussed and deliberated upon some of the important aspects, issues and challenges concerning cyberspace. In the past years, the International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity has been supported by 125+ international and national organizations. These include UNESCO, ITU, and UNU-EGOV in the UN Family, as also by Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, Europol Cybercrime Centre, Interpol, Internet Society, World Federation of Scientists, International Association of Prosecutors, Global Prosecutors E-Crime Network and Asia Cloud Computing Association. The world’s famous International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, saw a glittering inaugural ceremony on 29 November, 2023. This annual Conference, which has become the only authoritative Conference in the world looking at the intersection of Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, got off to a flying start, with a galaxy of speakers addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Conference. Addressing the Conference, Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul Judge, Supreme Court of India highlighted the significance of Internet for societies and the massive misuse of Internet that is emerging across the world. He also highlighted the need to have greater knowledge about Cyber Laws and various cyberspace related aspects concerning the law enforcement agencies, prosecuting agencies and the courts of law. He particularly also highlighted how the Internet is being used to target the sovereignty of countries, which is emerging as a big trend which need to be appropriately addressed. He flagged the tremendous increase in cyber terror and cybercrime cases and advocated the need for judiciary to adopt more proactive approach towards cyberspace related issues and challenges. While talking about the access to justice and digitization of courts, he emphasized on the need of ensuring access to justice to the last man. The inauguration of the conference was further addressed by various national and international dignitaries including Vint Cerf, Chief Evangelist, Google and the Father of the Internet, Alfredo M. Ronchi, General Secretary of the European Commission – MEDICI Framework. In his sterling Cyberlaw address, the Conference Director Dr. Pavan Duggal specifically spoke about the evolving legal landscape, as far as Cyberlaws across the world is concerned. He highlighted the distinctive new trends in Cyberspace and how there is a need for addressing the same. He specifically addressed the need for expeditious evolving of norms of behavior in cyberspace. He emphasized on how distinctive national approaches on cyber security can become a predominant approach for regulating security and why there is a distinctive need for coming up with international common denominators to deal with cyber security regulation at global level. He also highlighted various cyber legal challenges that emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence have brought forward to the world at large. The three-day of the conference marked massive discussions, deliberations and debates amongst various stakeholders. The conference had different sessions relating to cyberlaw, cybercrime & cyber security, darknet, regulating Artificial Intelligence, freedom of speech online, digital transformation etc. on the second day. The remarkable capacity of the conference was its unique multi-stakeholder approach where attendees saw different stakeholders from different verticals coming in, deliberating, discussing and analyzing not just the present trends but also the future trends that are emerging on the horizon concerning cyberspace issues and how appropriate proactive approaches need to be adopted in this regard. The conference specifically talked about darknet, personal privacy in cyberspace. The conference also talked about Artificial Intelligence, cybercrime and cyber security. Other sessions of the conference include norms of behaviour in cyberspace, Cybercrimes, Trolling, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment & Cyber Nuisance, Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, Free Speech Online, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain etc. The Conference was addressed by distinguished global experts and thought leaders as also Indian digital thought leaders and important towering personalities in the digital world including Hon’ble Justice Rajesh Bindal, Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice Gita Mittal, Former Chief Justice, Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Alfredo M. Ronchi, Secretary General, EC MEDICI, Alan Brill, Managing Director, Kroll, Dr. Triveni Singh, Superintendent of Police, Cybercrimes, Uttar Pradesh Police, Harshdeep Marwah, CEO & Managing Director, OA Compserve Group – RASPL, OACPL Ltd., Prof. Dr. Christoph Stueckelberger, Founder and President, Globethics.Net amongst others. The conference had a unique format where interactivity amongst the panelists and the audience was highlighted. There were immense discussions and debates amongst the participants of the conference on coming up with new approaches on how to deal with newly emerging cyberspace issues. The valedictory session of the Conference was addressed by Hon’ble Justice Anup Bhambani, Judge, Delhi High Court. Speaking at the conference, Justice Bhambani highlighted the significance of the conferences like the present one and further highlighted the need for coming up with proactive approaches so that the judiciary can appropriately address nuances pertaining to cyber disputes. The conference came up with Outcome Document with various recommendations from various sessions of the conference that were discussed and debated by various stakeholders. The said Outcome Document has come up with various recommendations for stakeholders at a global, regional and national level. Addressing the valedictory session, the Conference Director Dr. Pavan Duggal thanked all stakeholders and hoped that the International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity will continue to contribute to evolving jurisprudence on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity. The conclusion of the conference marked yet another important chapter in the direction of India contributing its thought leadership…
