Legal Uses of Human Rights Documentation: The Challenges of Digital Evidence in Human Rights Cases

Legal Uses of Human Rights Documentation:

The Challenges of Digital Evidence in Human Rights Cases


Author

Lucy Thomson [bio]

Formats


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The increasing use of digital information by organizations around the world poses many challenges for the legal community and advocacy organizations. Human rights cases increasingly include a wide variety of electronic documentation and evidence such as electronic texts, cell phone videos, digital photos, voice mail recordings, and other digital media. After describing the nature of this digital evidence, this presentation will highlight many of the legal and technical issues that arise when this material is introduced (whether admissible or not) in legal proceedings, and how the legal community is dealing with such evidence. Finally, she will discuss the significant challenges advocacy organizations, NGOs, lawyers, and others are facing (e.g., technology obsolescence and interoperability, authentication, version control, etc.) in being able to preserve and maintain a level of integrity for such materials that will withstand challenge in court and (later on) satisfy historians.


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CHRDR Conference: 4-6 October 2007
Human Rights Archives and Documentation:
Meeting the Needs of Research, Teaching,
Advocacy and Social Justice


Selected Proceedings

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