An article from Dechert LLP on 8th March said that On February 12th the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019 came into force in the UK. This new law gives UK authorities (including the SFO and the FCA) the power to apply to a UK court to compel a company or individual operating or based outside the UK to provide electronic data stored outside the UK. The Act brings the UK into line with the CLOUD Act in the US, which created a framework by which foreign countries (such as the UK) could seek disclosure of data held by U.S. cloud service providers, without US co-operation or oversight. It allows UK authorities to side-step the notoriously slow process of mutual legal assistance. The article outlines the key takeaways of the Act. It also says that, refreshingly, this is one issue which will be largely unaffected by Brexit. OPO will only be available where a designated international co-operation agreement (DICA) exists between the UK and the country in which the OPO will be served. The UK has been negotiating such an agreement with the US since 2015 and hopes that a DICA with the US will serve as a template for similar treaties with other countries. The article reminds one that Dechert proposed a number of practical tips for data companies preparing for the CLOUD Act, and says that those tips apply equally to any company seeking to prepare for the introduction of OPO.
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