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Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Publication Title

AJIL Unbound

Abstract

The past few decades have seen radical advances in the availability and use of digital evidence in multiple areas of international law. Witnesses snap cellphone photos of unfolding atrocities and post them online, while others share updates in real time through messaging apps. Immigration officers search cell phones. Private citizens launch open-source online investigations. Investigators scrape social media posts. Digital experts verify authenticity with satellite geolocation. These new types of evidence and digitally facilitated methods and patterns of evidence gathering and analysis are revolutionizing the everyday practice of international law, drawing in an ever-wider circle of actors who can contribute to its enforcement and use. Predictably, this evidentiary transformation brings both new possibilities and new risks. This symposium evaluates the state of the art of digital investigation across several areas of international law. It asks what digital evidence is contributing to the international rule of law, and where it poses challenges and should inspire caution or reform.

Keywords

International Law, International Criminal Law, Human Rights Law, Digital Evidence, Digital Investigation

Publication Citation

Megiddo, Tamar & Durkee, Melinda (M. J.), Introduction to the Symposium on Digital Evidence, AJIL Unbound, 118 Am. J. Int'l L. Unbound 36 (2024)

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