Toolkit for handling and admissibility of electronic evidence Empowering legal practitioners to critically review e-evidence from the procedural rights perspective
Benjamin Flander, Anže Erbežnik · 2024
The Toolkit was created by the Law Institute of the Science and Research Centre of Koper, Slovenia, as a deliverable of the Innocent project. It is funded by the European Commission under the JUST Programme and coordinated by the Law and Internet Foundation, Bulgaria. It aims to enhance the application of the presumption of innocence when handling electronic evidence (e-evidence) in criminal proceedings and empower legal practitioners to critically review e-evidence from a procedural rights perspective. It is designed to enhance understanding of the legal and practical challenges encountered by judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers (particularly those operating in Central and Eastern Europe) in the acquisition of e-evidence by law enforcement agencies, evaluation of admissibility of e-evidence by judges, and cross-border access to and exchange of e-evidence. Exploring the different stages in the life cycle of e-evidence, this Toolkit concerns data and evidence stored in various electronic devices and online information systems, including computers, smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, electronic appliances, portable media (e.g. USB sticks, external hard drives) and clouds, associated with individuals suspected or accused of criminal offences, as well as those in the possession of other individuals. It also concerns electronic data and evidence held by telecommunication and internet service providers registered in domestic or foreign jurisdictions. However, it does not address legal and/or practical considerations related to interception and obtaining real-time electronic data and evidence from telecommunications operators, and refrains from exploring issues concerning the collection of electronic data (and evidence) through techniques of mass surveillance, as well as strategies like ‘predictive risk-assessment’ or other similar approaches aimed at preventing crime and enhancing law enforcement capabilities.