Information technologies in law enforcement

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief expose on the relevance of Information technology to certain aspects and procedures in the administration of justice. The elements on which the report is based are numerous: their Integration in a concise global view is forced by multifarious factors. a) Information technologies are nowadays pervading everywhere, almost as is the term «information» itself. b) The human systems with which law-enforcers are concerned are Increasingly complex, among other things because the laws themselves continue to grow in volume. Without support from information technology, the law would be hard put to interpret its role in accordance with changing situations in society at large, where Information technologies are widely used, sometimes to circumvent the laws and their enforcement and sometimes even to commit deliberate violations. c) In recent years, moreover, justice has widened Its scope in response to rapid and unceasing socio-economic development leading to innovations in organization and production and a degree of competitiveness that scarcely leaves pause for breath, all of which breeds conditions in which breaches of civil and legal ordinances are more the rale than the exception. d) The overall presence of information technologies is rapidly - or slowly, depending on one's point of view - leading to a change in die meaning of the word communication that cannot be ignored by anyone be he a judge, a doctor, a government official, or a scientist.