Mariam Salukvadze is a legal professional specialising in cybercrime, digital human rights, and criminal justice. She previously supervised high-priority investigations, including complex cybercrime cases, and supported the implementation of EU-funded justice reform initiatives. She currently contributes her expertise to an OSCE capacity-building initiative aimed at strengthening responses to cybercrime in Central Asia. Mariam is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative.
Presentation abstract
Digital crime rarely produces clear-cut physical evidence; instead, it leaves behind dispersed digital traces that require interpretation before they can acquire legal meaning. Browser artefacts, metadata, cookies, communication records, and system logs are often the silent by-products of online activity, but their evidentiary value emerges only when analysed within a forensic and legal framework capable of addressing questions of knowledge, access, control, and intent. This presentation examines how technical digital findings are transformed into coherent evidentiary meaning, emphasising the critical role of interpretation in ensuring that digital traces are used responsibly and effectively in cybercrime investigations and prosecutions.