Guidance on Digital Records Held on Electronic Devices in Criminal Proceedings

The issue of electronic evidence is not a new one. Since the disastrous and well publicised case of Liam Allen in 2017, the courts have been grappling with the issue of relevance and reviewing/disclosing evidence from the digital devices of witnesses in a case. In Allen’s case, he was on bail for over a year before being charged with several counts of rape. During the trial, his barrister obtained a copy of the complainant’s text messages, including several which directly conflicted with her witness statement decimating her credibility, and ultimately the Crown’s case.

In recent criminal cases of R v CB and R v Sultan Mohammed, the Court of Appeal has given guidance on the use of digital records held on electronic devices (such as mobile phones) by prosecution witnesses. In both cases, the defence sought to adduce digital records evidence – including from social media and mobile phone messages – but were ultimately unsuccessful. Although both cases related to sexual assault, the issues of principle considered in the respective judgments are relevant to a wide variety of circumstances.

Taylor Wessing, Lexology, https://is.gd/lXoc6c