Evaluation of electronic evidence in civil proceedings (on the examples of certain categories of court cases)
V.P. Fennych · Uzhhorod National University Herald Series Law · 2022
In this article, the author reveals the concept, essence and peculiarity of evaluating electronic evidence to establish the circumstances of a civil case. There are reasons that affect the difficulty of developing established approaches to the evaluation of electronic evidence in civil proceedings: the relative novelty of the use of electronic evidence by courts; a radical change in the legal framework, as a result of which electronic evidence began to be considered as an independent means of proof; multiplicity of forms of expression of electronic evidence in practice. Attention is also drawn to the fact that the list of electronic evidence and its carriers proposed by the law is not exclusive, which is also an additional factor that complicates the development of a uniform judicial practice of evaluating electronic evidence in civil proceedings. The characterization of the criteria for evaluating electronic evidence in civil proceedings is carried out: the criterion of propriety, the criterion of admissibility, the criterion of sufficiency, the criterion of reliability, the criterion of the interconnection of evidence. It is noted that the most questions arise when assessing the admissibility and reliability of electronic evidence, although sometimes the criterion of appropriateness of electronic evidence can be the subject of disputes in a civil case. Yes, verification of the appropriateness of electronic evidence should be carried out by identifying in their content information about the circumstances of the case that must be established. But such verification can be complicated if the evidentiary information is not clearly recorded. The use of various criteria for evaluating electronic evidence is clearly demonstrated with examples from the judicial practice of domestic courts and international judicial institutions. More attention is paid to and analysis of the legal positions of the Supreme Court regarding the evaluation of electronic evidence in civil proceedings. The importance of using electronic evidence to confirm the commission of legal actions regarding intangible goods, especially those that function in the electronic environment (in particular, cryptocurrency) is highlighted.