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, oralevidence, 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 currentcommon law principles indicates that data messages either fall into the category of real evidence or documentaryevidence and at this point, such an analysis will reasonably conclude that the rules that regulate eitherdocumentary or real evidence shall obviously apply to such data messages. This paper examines the practicalityof applying common law doctrines of evidence to electronic information. It finds that a broader approach to thetransient nature of electronic information is required to adequately accommodate electronically storedinformation in the extant rules of evidence.