Attestation Rules Regarding Digital Evidence In Criminal Procedure Law

With the development of science and technology, especially the further development of computer science and Internet technology, electronic evidence became known to scholars and the public as a type of evidence. The two Regulations promulgated in2010were not specifically carried to govern digital evidence. However, the rules related to the recognition of digital evidence are considered to be a significant conclusion of the experience in this field both in theory and in practice. In this case, even though the topic of digital evidence is not new to scholars, we have got totally new subjects to analyze. When discussing digital evidence, scholars first started with its character, definition and the naming of such. These types of discussion was necessary when digital evidence first came to be known by scholars, because the recognitions rules of digital evidence cannot be separated from the acknowledgment of the characters of it. As for now, Chinese law has already used the name of digital evidence and categorized it as a type of evidence. When analyzing the recognition rules, the detailed rules of such evidence shall be examined first. When starting this task, the first basis shall be that evidence rules actually include two parts, which are competence of evidence and degree of proof, and according to modern evidence law theory, the former shall be the center of evidence law. After examining the current evidence rules stipulated in Chinese criminal procedure law, it is not easy to find out that Chinese legal system is making progress toward this trend, and the evidence rules are linked to the traditional three characters of evidence, which are legality, objectivity and relevance. However, there still exists rules of degree of proof, and detailed rules of such regulations are being called for in practice. As a result, to reply to the practical need, it is necessary to limit the rules regarding degree of proof into a restricted region and negate the guidance of such emerging during the process of practice. The attestation rules in the field of criminal procedure law did not came out separated from other rules, as a result, they shall be analyzed together with other evidence rules and the rules in other fields. It shall be recognized that rules in other evidence shall not be adapted to digital evidence automatically, but shall be converted to the rules which are compatible with the characters of digital evidence.