STOP, You’re on Camera: The Evidentiary Admissibility and Probative Value of Digital Records in Europe

Under the rule of law, the punishment of an accused is possible only when his or her guilt is proven before the judiciary in accordance with legal safeguards including the rules of evidence law. Digital community policing systems—mobile device policing applications and associated networks and servers—collect, transmit and store digital records relevant to violations of law, which can be used by law enforcement agencies as tips to collect further evidence and by prosecutors to prove the guilt of the accused. These digital records must meet the law requirements with regard to the admissibility and probative value of evidence: relevance, legality, authenticity and reliability. Therefore, digital community policing systems should have measures that: (1) enable the identification of the source of the digital records and the time, date and location of their creation; (2) protect the digital records from alteration, manipulation or damage during the collection, transmission or storage; (3) ensure that the digital records are what they purport to be and (4) verify whether the digital records have suffered any omissions