On Legal Status And Admissibility Of Audio-Video Material

At present, there are five controversial issues with regard to the legal status and admissibility of audio-video material.Firstly, how to comprehend the term "Audio-Video Material"? Does it mean "audio-video material and. material", or just "audio-visual material"? In terms of legislation, it seems to be construed as, however, "audio-video material and material" . If the term is so construed, it may overlap documentary evidence for all the documentary evidence can be considered as "material". On the contrary, if the term is construed as "audio-visual material", it shall not contain electronic computer data. As a result, the legal status of electronic computer data may not be put in an appropriate legal position just as before that audio-video material was not prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Law.Secondly, is audio-video material the equivalent of the evidence of advanced science and technology? Apart from computer data, some scholars confine such data resulting from highly technological equipments into the category of audio-video material as credit cards telegrams, faxes, photographs (including red and violent ray and x ray) microfilms and neutral analytical results, for which audio-video material turns into a universal system with a variety of types and manifestations. There are some other scholars who even regard audio-video material as "New Technology". As a result, it becomes hard to distinguish audio-video material from documentary evidence and expert conclusion. Moreover, we are prone to misunderstand the nature of recordings and videotapes acquired in the course ofinvestigation and court hearing, let alone the relation between audio-video material and technology.Thirdly, is it reasonable that audio-video material is considered as a new type of evidence? Such an issue had been in dispute over the past 15 years during which firstly the Civil Procedure Law (trial) was adopted in 1982, and then the Administrative Procedure Law and Criminal Procedure Law were adopted in 1989 and 1991 respectively and finally the Criminal procedure Law was amended in 1996. The dispute mainly lies in whether audio-video material, with such a complex manifestation as recordings videotapes films computer data, can be included into one type of evidence in contrast with documentary evidence and testimony of witnesses manifested by a unique form of document and words respectively. There are both agreement and opposition with respect to the issues discussed above. The amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law temporarily puts an end to the issue, however, it is put forward once again as scholars currently start to discuss the amendment of evidence system. Among the discussion, some scholars, based on the tremendous development of digital technology in electronic business, propose the idea that digital evidence should be separated from the category of audio-video material as a new type of evidence and the uniform rule governing collection, review and examination of digital evidence should be established accordingly.Fourthly, must the material in the form of audio-video material be admissible? Investigation measures such as secret recordings and videotapes and computer frisking are often adopted in cases relating to violence crime, drug crimes, and official crimes. This is the same for civil parties to obtain evidence for themselves. Furthermore, it is often reported in media that surveillance equipments are applied with the result of infringing upon citizens rights to reputation and privacy in some schools and stores. Moreover, the practice of collecting evidence with the regard to the testimony of mobile phones by witnesses and victims and online investigation through e-mail is modeled .In addition, eavesdropping equipments, which are often used by private detectives in films, are easily purchased in some of electronic commodity markets in China. Whether these types of material in the form of audio-video material have probative forces is closely linked with the legitimacy of the evidence collection ofmaterial. The crucial issue wit...