Can chat records be used as evidence?

Can screenshots of chat records be used as evidence?

Can screenshots of chat records be used as evidence? Nowadays, the existence of the network makes people's communication more and more convenient. Chat records must be collected by the parties through legal means and need to be confirmed by other evidence. Can the following screenshots of chat records be used as evidence?

Can screenshots of chat records be used as evidence? 1 Can social software screenshots be used as a legal basis?

Screenshots of chat records on social software can be used as legal evidence. The Supreme Court issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), further clarifying that electronic data forms such as e-mail, short messages, micro-blogs and online chat records can be used as evidence in civil cases.

Electronic data refers to information formed or stored in electronic media by means of e-mail, electronic data exchange, online chat records, blogs, Weibo, SMS, electronic signature and domain name.

Audio and video materials stored in electronic media shall comply with the provisions of electronic data.

Social software and short messages can be used as evidence materials under some special circumstances, but the following conditions need to be met:

First, as evidence, social software and short messages must be objective, true and reliable. Objective truth refers to the fact that litigation evidence can prove the truth of the case, which is an objective fact, rather than subjective speculation from individuals. The chat records of social software and SMS should be naturally formed by the parties in their daily activities, and the content can be known by the other party or copied and presented.

Second, the chat records of social software and SMS as evidence materials need to be related to the facts of the case. The so-called relevance means that evidence is not only the objective existence of facts, but also needs to be logically related to the facts of the case, which can be logically inferred to explain the facts of the case. The content of social software and SMS chat records must be related to the event itself, not irrelevant things.

Third, social software and SMS chat records must also be legal. That is to say, the evidence comes from the initiative of the parties, or is investigated and collected by the parties, lawyers or legal organs in accordance with the relevant procedures of the law.

As a new evidence material, social software and SMS chat records are certainly different from other ordinary evidence collection. Whether it is provided by the parties or collected by the people's court, it must comply with the relevant procedures prescribed by law. Social software and chat records as evidence must conform to the forms prescribed by law.

Can screenshots of chat records be used as evidence? 2 WeChat chat records can be used as evidence, but WeChat evidence is not easy to be the basis for determining the facts of the case. Regardless of the relevance between the content of WeChat evidence and the facts of the case, WeChat evidence must meet two preconditions before it can be accepted:

1. WeChat users are both parties.

Because WeChat is not a real-name registration system, if the user of WeChat cannot be proved to be a party, the evidence of WeChat cannot be legally related to the case. There are four main ways to confirm the identity of WeChat users in current judicial practice:

1, the other party acknowledges;

2. Identification of WeChat avatar or WeChat photo album photos;

3, the real name of the network, the authentication materials of the electronic data sender or the identity authentication of the owner;

4. Third-party organizations, namely software suppliers, assist in the investigation.

The first two methods are obviously accidental and cannot be used as normal confirmation methods. The latter two methods involve the third-party technical assistance of software suppliers, but they have not yet formed a benign operation process, and naturally it is impossible to submit a WeChat record yourself as you imagined.

Second, the integrity of WeChat evidence.

This condition is related to the authenticity and relevance of WeChat evidence, because WeChat evidence is a living fragmented record. If it is incomplete, it may be taken out of context and cannot reflect the complete true meaning of the parties.

Due to the lack of clear authentication rules and specialized electronic evidence authentication institutions, some notarization authentication is flawed, which makes it more difficult for the court to authenticate electronic evidence. Therefore, it is an inevitable demand for the development of WeChat evidence to establish a special electronic data evidence appraisal institution and clarify its certification rules.

The Supreme People's Court's Decision on Revision will be implemented on May 1 2020.

Article 14 Electronic data include the following information and electronic documents:

(1) Information published by web pages, blogs, Weibo and other online platforms;

(2) Communication information of network application services such as short messages, e-mails, instant messaging and communication groups;

(3) User registration information, identity authentication information, electronic transaction records, communication records, login logs and other information;

(four) documents, pictures, audio, video, digital certificates, computer programs and other electronic files;

(5) Other information stored, processed and transmitted in digital form that can prove the facts of the case.

Can screenshots of chat records be used as evidence? 3 How to define the legitimacy of evidence?

1, legal subject: legal subject of evidence. The subject of evidence refers to the individual or unit that constitutes the content of evidence. The subject of evidence is legal, which means that the subject of evidence must meet the requirements of the law. The illegality of the subject will also lead to the illegality of the evidence.

The requirement of the law on the subject of evidence is also to ensure the authenticity of the evidence. Therefore, according to the characteristics of evidence, the law sets corresponding requirements for the subject of some evidence. For example, people who can't express their will correctly can't be witnesses, and the subject who makes the appraisal conclusion must have relevant appraisal qualifications and so on.

2. Legality in form: the form of evidence is legal. The legitimacy of the form of evidence means that as evidence, not only the content is true, but also the form meets the requirements of the law. For example, the certification documents submitted by the unit to the court must be signed or sealed by the person in charge of the unit and stamped with the seal of the unit; Guarantee contract, mortgage contract, etc. It needs to be proved by written contract text.

3. Legal way of obtaining evidence: the way of obtaining evidence is legal. Whether the evidence materials collected by the parties can be used as evidence for the court to determine the facts of the case depends on whether the acquisition method of the evidence materials conforms to the legal provisions. The law stipulates that the method of obtaining evidence must be legal in order to protect the legitimate rights of others from being violated by illegal evidence collection. take for example

When using audio-visual materials to prove the facts of a case, it is required that the acquisition of audio-visual materials shall not infringe upon other people's legitimate rights such as privacy. The common way of obtaining evidence that easily infringes on others' privacy is the so-called sneak shot. For another example, the court shall be jointly investigated and collected by two or more persons, and shall not be independently investigated and collected by a judge or clerk, and the judge who should be recused shall not conduct evidence investigation.

4. Legal procedure: The evidence procedure is legal. Evidence materials will eventually go through certain litigation procedures. Without the procedures prescribed by law, the evidence still cannot be used as the basis for finalizing the case.