Admissibility of Digital Evidence: A perspective of Pakistani Justice System

Abstract

Digital evidence is any evidence which can be stored, exchanged or generated in electronic form. Such type of evidence has assumed a crucial role in modern day adjudication of criminal cases. In the recent past, digital evidence was treated as secondary evidence in Pakistan, however, keeping in view its increasing relevance to detect and punish crimes in the information age, some critical legislative changes were made to give the status of primary evidence to the digital evidence. This article suggests that the status of digital evidence has become primary to the extent of its admissibility only. In relation to weight or appraisal, it is still regarded as a circumstantial evidence requiring corroboration. This approach can be changed by judicial precedents implementing the changes brought about by the legislature.