Electronic Evidence Fourth Edition
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S. Weir and Stephen Mason, 2017; Chapter 2 © Burkhard Schafer and Stephen Mason, 2017; Chapter 3 © Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng, 2017; Chapter 4 © Chris Gallavin and Stephen Mason, 2017; Chapters 5, 6 and 10 Chapter 8 © Stephen Mason and Alisdair Gillespie, 2017; Chapter 9 © Stephen Mason,© Stephen Andrew Mason, Sheldon 2017; andChapter Hein 7 Dries, © Stephen 2017; Masonvignettes and © Allison Stephen Stanfield, Mason, 2017;2007, 2010, 2012 and 2016 Published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence The authors assert their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the authors of this work. ISBN 978-1-911507-07-9 (PDF edition) This book is also available online at http://ials.sas.ac.uk/digital/humanities-digital- library/observing-law-ials-open-book-service-law. Institute of Advanced Legal Studies University of London Charles Clore House 17 Russell Square London WC1B 5DR http://ials.sas.ac.uk Electronic Evidence Fourth edition Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng of the Middle Temple, Barrister Associate Professor, National University of Singapore Editors Contributors Dr George R. S. Weir Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde Burkhard Schafer Professor of Computational Legal Theory, School of Law, University of Edinburgh Chris Gallavin Professor of Law and Deputy pro-Chancellor, Massey University Managing Director and Solicitor, SG Legal Services Pty Ltd Dr Allison Stanfield Alisdair Gillespie Professor of Criminal Law and Justice and Head of the Law School, Lancaster University Andrew Sheldon, MSc Evidence Talks Limited Hein Dries Vigilo Consult A note on our Creative Commons licence, free legal resources on the Internet and citations of websites to make available the fourth edition of Electronic Evidence under a Creative Commons licence.For the firstWe time,made the this authors, carefully the considered editors and decision the publisher because have we collectively want to promote decided a better understanding of electronic evidence, and wish to facilitate the greater accessibility and availability of our combined scholarship. We commend the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, for its strong and continued support for academic education, learning and scholarship and the advancement of knowledge. Most readers familiar with the common law will be aware of some of the free legal sources on the Internet. For the uninitiated, the World Legal Information Institute (www.worldlii.org) is a good start. Many of the more recent cases cited in this book, web sites that are linked to the World Legal Information Institute, which in turn is coordinatedbut by no means by the all, Australasian are available Legal on the Information various independent Institute (www.austlii.edu.au), jurisdiction-specific Additional links can be found on any university library web site, including the website ofthe the first Institute of its ofkind. Advanced Note also Legal The Studies, Free AccessLondon. to It Lawmust Movement be emphasized (www.falm.info). that the free sources of case law that are available are not comprehensive. Readers will be familiar with the changing nature of URLs. Every effort has been made to ensure, where a URL is given, that it was live at the time of publication. References have been made to Wikipedia on the basis that this source is relatively accurate for information of a technical nature. Readers will be aware that these pages are open to being up-dated and changed regularly. Although it is sometimes customary to provide the date a page was last viewed on the Internet, it is taken as a given that the reader does not need this information, given the dynamic nature of the Internet. Errors and Omissions While we, our authors and the publisher have tried hard to ensure all typographical and other errors have been corrected, we are aware that we might have missed some. For this reason, we will be delighted if you let us know if you notice an error. In addition, if you detect any relevant case law, legislation, guidelines or reports that we have missed, we will appreciate it if you inform us of any helpful and pertinent materials. This edition is dedicated to the memory of a generous and distinguished man Jon Bing (30 April 1944 – 14 January 2014) Professor dr juris – author Senter for rettsinformatikk, Institutt for privatrett Det juridiske fakultet Universitetet i Oslo Also to the memory of a man with a warm heart Harald Hjort (19 September 1955 – 12 July 2016) One of the authors of the chapter on Norway in International Electronic Evidence (2008) Contents Business records xiii Preface xiv Acknowledgments xvi Table of statutes xix Table of cases xxiv 1. The sources of electronic evidence 1 George R. S. Weir and Stephen Mason Digital devices 1 The processor 1 Software 2 Memory and storage 4 Data storage facilities 4 Lost data 5 Data formats 6 Starting a computer 7 Types of evidence available on a digital device 7 Files 7 Imaging 7 System and program logs 8 MobileTemporary devices files and cache files 108 NetworksDeleted files 119 Types of network 11 Types of network applications 14 Concluding remarks 17 2. The characteristics of electronic evidence 18 Burkhard Schafer and Stephen Mason The dependency on machinery and software 21 The mediation of technology 22 Speed of change 23 Volume and replication 25 Metadata 27 Types of metadata 28 Social context and metadata 31 Storage media 33 An intellectual framework for analysing electronic evidence 34 3. The foundations of evidence in electronic form 36 Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng Direct and indirect evidence 36 Evidence in both digital and analogue form 37 Metadata and electronic evidence 38 Means of proof 38 Testimony and hearsay 39 Real evidence 39 viii Electronic Evidence Evidence in analogue form 40 Evidence in digital form 40 Documents and disclosure or discovery 43 Visual reading of a document 47 Authentication 48 Best evidence 49 Analogue evidence 52 Digital evidence 53 Civil proceedings 55 Criminal proceedings 56 Admissibility 57 Weight 58 Execution and electronic signatures 59 Video and audio evidence 61 Testimonial use in legal proceedings 61 Computer generated animations and simulations 64 IdentificationComputer-generated and recognition evidence evidence in England and Wales: civil 61 proceedings 65 Computer-generated evidence in England and Wales: criminal proceedings 66 4. Hearsay 70 Chris Gallavin and Stephen Mason The foundations of the rule of hearsay exclusion 72 CivilPublic proceedings policy justifications and the requirement for a rule of toexclusion give notice 7673 CriminalDefining hearsayproceedings 7775 Elements of hearsay 80 Business and other documents 83 Judicial discretion to exclude 86 Concluding observations 86 5. Software code as the witness 88 Stephen Mason Content written by one or more people 94 The Recordsclassification generated of digital by the data software that have not had any input 91 from a human 96 Records comprising a mix of human input and calculations generated by software 97 Challenging the code to challenge the truth of the statement 100 6. The presumption that computers are ‘reliable’ 101 Stephen Mason The purpose of a presumption 101 Presumptions and mechanical instruments 102 Judicial formulations of the presumption that mechanical instruments are in order when used 104 Judicial notice 104 A ‘notorious’ class 107 Common knowledge 109 Properly constructed 111 Contents ix Evidential foundations of the presumption 112 How judges assess the evidence