Legal regulation of electronic evidence and the practice of their use in the judiciary of Ukraine

Abstract

The article, based on the analysis of judicial practice (criminal, civil, administrative and economic proceedings), analyzes the assessment and use of evidence received in electronic form by courts, and draws a conclusion regarding the lack of unanimity in these issues; in particular, regarding the very concept of "electronic evidence" (in the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, unlike other procedural codes, this term is not defined) and its duplicate or copy, the method of recording and certification (by whom: by the provider or another entity), the use screenshot seizure, etc. Ukraine's signing on November 30, 2022 of the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, which is aimed at improving the process of electronic data collection, marks the beginning of a new law-making process to improve Ukraine's national legislation in accordance with international standards. The basis for this is the created legal basis for international direct cooperation with service providers, accelerated forms of cooperation for disclosure of information about the subscriber and traffic data, accelerated cooperation and disclosure of information in emergency situations, additional tools for mutual assistance, data protection and other guarantees of the rule of law are also provided , the definition of "emergency situation" is given for the first time, which should be understood as a situation that creates a significant and unavoidable risk to the life or safety of any natural person, and "personal data" is considered to be information related to the identification of a person. On the basis of updated international standards, current legislation and practice, it is proposed to start an in-depth study of the "Theory of electronic evidence", which will contribute to the development of verified bills and the adoption by the parliament of a law that would specify the unambiguous terms "electronic evidence", a copy/duplicate of electronic evidence, the order of withdrawal, records or certificates, the provider's authority to assist in legal proceedings.