Appraising the Prevention and Deterrence of Cybercrime in Ireland though the Law (PRECYLI)

Project Objectives

• To advance the state of the art in cybercrime research, and particularly to appraise the effectiveness of legislative interventions aimed at preventing cybercrime and prosecuting offenders in Ireland.

• To promote the inclusion of Ireland in comparative European and international cybercrime research, through the collection and analysis of empirical data.

• To contribute to cybercrime-related policymaking, including through stakeholder engagement.

Research Questions and Outputs

Running from September 2021 to the end of August 2025, this project will contribute to the wider understanding of:

• How the applicable law supports the prevention of cybercrimes and prosecution of cyber offenders;

• What legal and policy-based actions are necessary to enhance Ireland’s resilience to cybercrime;

• Whether and how a failure to adequately protect against the threat of cybercrime might affect Ireland’s position of data leadership.

The project will result in four types of substantive outputs:

1. Empirical research with policymakers and relevant stakeholders to investigate how the applicable law supports the prevention and prosecution of cybercrimes.

2. Qualitative data on the law for the prevention and prosecution of cybercrimes in Ireland, to contribute to evidence-based decision-making.

3. Academic and policy outputs to inform the public debate around cybercrime in Ireland.

4. A national conference on cybercrime (subject to additional funds being made available).