The Faculty of Law at Diponegoro University once again held the Undip Global Classroom (UGC) 2026 as part of its efforts to strengthen the internationalization of learning and enrich students’ academic perspectives. The event, held on Friday, April 17, 2026, featured Prof. Dr. Joost Nan from Erasmus University Rotterdam as the keynote speaker, with Dr. Gaza Carumna Iskandendra, S.H., M.H. as a discussant, on the topic “Cybercrime in the Netherlands.”
In his presentation, Prof. Joost Nan emphasized that cybercrime cannot be understood narrowly as a technology-based crime, but rather as a legal phenomenon evolving alongside society’s digital transformation. He conceptually distinguished between cybercrime in the narrow sense—where computers or data are the primary targets—and cyber-enabled crime, which is conventional crime facilitated by digital technology, such as online fraud and the distribution of illegal content.
The presentation went into greater depth, explaining that the development of criminal law in the Netherlands demonstrates a gradual response to this complexity. Initially, legal protection focused on computers as objects treated as “property” in criminal law. However, subsequent developments recognized the intangible and replicable characteristics of data, necessitating separate legal protections. This is reflected in the evolution of the Dutch Computer Crime Act, which underwent significant changes in 1993, 2006, and 2019, with an increasingly strong emphasis on data protection.
Regarding law enforcement, Prof. Nan also outlined regulations governing technology-based investigative actions, including the authority of law enforcement officers to access computer systems to investigate serious crimes. However, he emphasized that effective law enforcement must be balanced with the protection of human rights, particularly the rights to privacy and a fair trial.
The discussion also highlighted the key challenges in combating cybercrime, both from a substantive and procedural legal perspective. From a substantive legal perspective, formulating norms that adapt to technological developments is necessary without sacrificing legal certainty. Meanwhile, from a procedural law perspective, the challenge lies in law enforcement officials’ ability to keep pace with technological developments and maintain a balance between investigative effectiveness and the protection of fundamental rights.
Students from the Special Criminal Law class actively participated in the discussion session. The questions raised demonstrated the students’ attention to contemporary issues, such as jurisdiction in transnational cybercrime and the relevance of the Dutch regulatory model in the Indonesian legal context. Through this activity, the Faculty of Law at Diponegoro University affirmed its commitment to providing adaptive, critical, and global perspective legal education.