Notification of designated establishments and the appointment of legal representatives for the purpose of gathering electronic evidence in criminal proceedings

4. 3. 2026

In the context of the European reform of the cross-border gathering of electronic evidence in criminal matters, the Czech Telecommunication Office is proposed as the central authority for the execution of the agenda under Directive (EU) 2023/1544 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023, under which selected service providers should notify the Office of designated establishments or appointed representatives for the purpose of European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders under Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023. The relevant Czech implementing legislation is now in the legislative process. We expect it to be effective by August 2026 at the latest.

The obligation to notify one or more designated establishments to the Czech Telecommunication Office will be imposed on providers established in the Czech Republic who offer in the territory of another Member State of the European Union:

  1. electronic communications services pursuant to the Electronic Communications Act;
  2. domain name registry administration and operation services, domain name registration or Internet Protocol address numbering services;
  3. information society services pursuant to the Act on Certain Information Society Services, which allow users' data to be stored or processed, or which allow users to communicate with each other.

Notification of one or more appointed representatives to the Czech Telecommunication Office should be made by providers who offer any of the above services in the territory of the Czech Republic, although they are not established in the European Union, and who have appointed representatives with permanent residence, domicile or registered office in the Czech Republic.              

To facilitate registration, the European Commission is preparing a registration portal, which is expected to be launched shortly. A link to the registration portal will also be published on the website of the Czech Telecommunication Office. For further questions on the notification of designated establishments or appointed representatives, you can contact the Czech Telecommunication Office, a separate department for the supervision of specialized agendas.

Further information on the European Union legislative package on e-evidence in criminal matters is available at this link. The State administration in other aspects of the collection of e-evidence should be carried out by the Ministry of Justice. For questions on other aspects of e‑ evidence gathering, please contact the Ministry of Justice, eJustice Strategy and Architecture Department.

 
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