4 - New Media Evidence across International Courts and Tribunals

Summary

This chapter addresses the void in the literature regarding the ways in which international courts and tribunals handle the admission of new media evidence. A survey of the instances in which these forums have responded to this evidence reveals a wide range of approaches. While there are compelling reasons to endorse the general approach of the international legal system to procedural fragmentation – namely, allowing integration to occur informally and unsystematically as needed – this approach reaches its limit when it comes to the evaluation of new media evidence. Rapid technological change heightens the risk of falsified material being introduced. The proactive sharing of lessons learned across and within international courts and tribunals is a matter of urgency.