Electronic evidence and its authenticity in forensic evidence

Abstract

Background The basis for criminal trials is the judge’s conviction of the evidence presented in a case. His belief is based on the context or evidence he is satisfactory with and understands. However, the law may establish certain evidence for the judge to adhere to. This study aims to identify the extent of the authenticity and strength of digital or electronic evidence in criminal trials, by identifying legislative trends in the various legal systems, and examining what legal jurists have done to determine the extent of the authenticity of the electronic evidence of cybercrimes. Results This study will research the legitimacy of electronic evidence and the conditions for its verification, the extent of the authenticity of electronic evidence found during an investigation, the difficulties of obtaining electronic evidence that can be presented before the courts, and the extent of a presiding judge’s freedom to determine if electronic materials presented in court should be used as evidence. Conclusions Two conditions must be met: first, the electronic evidence must be legally obtained based on written permission from the competent investigation authorities; second, it must be verified as valid by computer science and information technology experts. If those two conditions are not met, the evidence is invalid. The study gives reason to talk about the need for the adoption of international agreements on cooperation in the development and exchange of computer and information technologies, aimed at preserving electronic evidence from destruction and oblige countries to implement and comply with these agreements.

Re-Scanning the Electronic Certificate Infrastructure (Sertipikat-el)

“…An important note of Sertipikat-el derived from digital reborn is the process of switching media that is done not just by scanning paper and making a soft file format. However, it must pass the authentication process to show the authenticity of documents (Moussa, 2021) and signing the minutes of the archive media switch (Article 49 of Government Regulation No. 28 of 2012, and Article 26 of Regulation of the Head of ANRI No.…”

Electronic Evidence in Administrative Proceedings

“…Any evidence, electronic or material, if collected in violation of the law will be considered inadmissible by the court (Leroux, 2004). For the admissibility of electronic evidence in court, two conditions must be met simultaneously: 1) they must be obtained with the permission of the competent authorities; 2) they must be validated by information technology experts (Moussa, 2021).…”

On the Definition, Legal Essence and Classification of Electronic Information Used Within the Framework of International Cooperation in Criminal Matters

“…In his opinion, if the protocols of investigative and judicial actions are drawn up in electronic form, then there will be no new "type" of evidence, since the protocols will remain protocols, regardless of the form of their production (handwritten, electronic, etc.). As a result, the cited author comes to the conclusion that there is simply no need for special electronic evidence [Golovko L.V., 2019: [22][23][24][25].…”

“…Returning to individual aspects of the two previously mentioned terms, we note that some international documents operate precisely with the phrase "electronic evidence". 15 Moreover, in Western legal doctrine, similar 15 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters COM/2018/225 final -2018/0108 (COD) // Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2018%3A225%3AFIN (accessed: 01.12.2021); Practical terminology is used [Moussa A.F., 2021], [Kerr O.S., 2010: 23], [Mason S., 2012: 26-27], [Mason S., 2014: 25-36]. It seems that this is determined by the difference in the legal systems of states, approaches to the definition of evidence and their legal nature.…”

“…It represents the text of an email (message), blog or post, video, image or sound stored in digital format (excluding subscriber data or metadata). 23 Thus, during the criminal prosecution by French law enforcement agencies of terrorist A., who killed two French police officers at their home, it became necessary to obtain the content of the attacker's Facebook accounts on the iPhone, which was seized as part of the inspection of the scene. One account was created in the name of A. and the other in a fictitious name, where he posted a video of the double murder and made a statement about the attack.…”