E-Evidence: The Statutory Framework (1)

As the medium of business information moves inexorably from paper to electronic, questions such as the following are asked with greater frequency and urgency: is electronically based information as admissible in court as its paper-based ancestor?; how should information in electronic form be stored in order to satisfy legal record retention rules?; in litigation, can a party discover all of another party’s vast electronic archives?; and should all e-mails be retained so they are available in any future litigation?

As these are good and timely questions, this column kicks off a four part series on various key aspects of "e-evidence". First, we bring some of historical perspective to bear, and outline the current statutory regime for computer-based records. Next month we look at the recently published CGSB Standard on Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence, and the impact this will have on establishing best practices for the retention of electronic records. Third, we consider