Digital Evidence in the Process of the International Court of Justice

Abstract

The experience of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations, the oldest existing international court, is extremely important for the development of international judicial procedure. One of the important elements is the practice of collecting and using evidence, which serve as the basis for a Court decision. The problem of recent years has been the problem of using digital (electronic) evidence, which can be any material that exists or is transmitted in the form of numbers. Its source can be a computer disk, stationary or mobile, USB drive, smartphone, the Internet. The digital proof may also have a graphical form in the form of a computer file or an email. The source of evidence may also be data obtained from satellites as a result of remote sensing of the Earth. There are no rules of customary international law concerning electronic evidence. It is logical to assume that the relevant regulation is adopted by each international court separately for itself in the form of its internal law or accepted practice. There are no rules in the Statute and Rules of the International Court of Justice that directly regulate the handling of digital evidence. The main task that the Court faces is to select such data that would allow it to make an effective and fair decision in accordance with international law. Since digital information can be on the Internet, and therefore be accessible to everyone, such information can be classified as publicly available, and therefore freely available. There are concerns that its use could make the trial uncertain. In our opinion, for digital data, the same conditions of treatment must be observed as with evidence in another form: deadlines, registration of copies, etc. The final word on the suitability of the submitted digital evidence is taken by the Court, taking into account the clarity of the image and information, the reliability of sources, etc.