Digital Evidence in the Practice of the International Criminal Court: What Future for Proceedings on War Crimes Committed in Ukraine?
摘要
This chapter concentrates on very heart of proving international crimes in international criminal proceedings. Within the purview of the law of evidence, the author turns her attention to digital evidence, such as satellite imagery or videos shared on social media, which may play a crucial role in prosecuting individuals for war crimes. Indeed, social media platforms have become de facto repositories for storing evidence of the most heinous crimes committed during recent international and non-international armed conflicts. Given that the ICC enjoys a certain degree of autonomy in admitting and evaluating evidence, this type of evidence can contribute to enhancing the Court’s activity. However, it must meet the admissibility criteria set forth by Article 69(4) of the ICC Statute, as well as the standards for evaluating documentary evidence—which also includes digital evidence—as developed in the Court’s case law. For this reason, digital evidence has so far been recognized as having limited probative value before the ICC in the prosecution of war crimes. This, however, might change in proceedings concerning the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, considering the high involvement of civil society in recording and sharing evidence of events mainly perpetrated by the Russian armed forces.