Myanmar: Note on New Draft Cyber Security Law Evidence Two new provisions on evidence, combined with the power of the Central Committee to establish the National Digital Laboratory, are also of concern. Article 66 provides that if “the evidence relating to an offence filed under this law is not easy to bring to court, it can be presented with a report or other relevant documentation on how the evidence is kept without going to court.” In this case, the evidence is deemed to have been presented legally before the court and the court shall act accordingly. Importantly, pursuant to Article 67, if any dispute arises regarding the submission of electronic evidence, the National Digital Laboratory shall have the power to make the final ruling on the matter. This is highly problematical. While it is not yet clear how the National Digital Laboratory will be constituted, the whole approach of the draft Law, not to mention the wider approach of the military regime, very strongly suggests that this body will not be independent of the regime. As a result, this will create a situation where the regime, which will very often be one of the parties to a dispute before the courts, effectively gets to dictate what evidence may and may not be accepted. This runs directly contrary to the whole principle of the rule of law both in terms of parity of parties before the courts and in terms of the courts being independent and able to control their own processes. Offences A number of important changes have been made to the provisions on offences in the draft Law. A whole new Chapter 15: Administrative Actions has essentially replaced one provision, Article 72 in the February 2021 version. The latter allowed the Department, the secretariat of the Central Committee, with the approval of the Steering Committee, to warn, impose a fine on, or suspend or revoke the service or licence of any party which failed to respect Articles 44 or 48 (now Articles 44 and 58) providing, respectively, for online service providers to cooperate with the various committees tasked with responding to cybercrimes and attacks and for telecommunications service providers to collaborate with those who had been authorised to intervene under existing laws (the scope of this was never clear). Pursuant to Chapter 15, these administrative provisions have been very significantly expanded. Bodies which are authorised to issue electronic certificates may suspend or cancel those certificates for any breach by the certificate holder of the law (Article 69). If, in turn, a body which is authorised to issue electronic certificates is in breach of the law, the Electronic Communications Regulatory Committee may impose a fine or suspend or cancel their licence The Centre for Law and Democracy is a non-profit human rights organisation working internationally to provide legal expertise on foundational rights for democracy. 6