EXPLORING THE INTEGRATION OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION INTO THE DOCTRINES OF ENGLISH COMMON LAW OF EVIDENCE

Abstract

The conventional classifications of evidence in the English Common Law which include hearsay evidence, oral evidence, documentary evidence and real evidence, ‘original and copy’ and ‘primary and secondary evidence’ present novel challenges in the integration of electronic information. The diversity of these devices, their uses, and their complexity has only made it harder to apply evidentiary procedures to them. The evaluation of current common law principles indicates that data messages either fall into the category of real evidence or documentary evidence and at this point, such an analysis will reasonably conclude that the rules that regulate either documentary or real evidence shall obviously apply to such data messages. This paper examines the practicality of applying common law doctrines of evidence to electronic information. It finds that a broader approach to the transient nature of electronic information is required to adequately accommodate electronically stored information in the extant rules of evidence.