Electronic evidence in criminal proceedings

The goal of the research is to define the essence and the meaning of electronic evidence in criminal proceedings. The research is based on the analysis of specialized literature. Both analytical, comparative and descriptive research methods were used in the research. Nowadays the technologies’-based changes produced such kind of spatial relations, where both physical and digital worlds merged imperceptibly. In fact, a new mankind existence form emerges, where there is a need for unified approach in the regulation of public relations. Law enforcement agencies are also facing challenges, because of crimes committed more frequently in digital environment, where electronic data is being used in the processes of investigation and proving of the person’s culpability. Electronic data, electronic traces and electronic evidence are new essence categories, only to be discovered by Latvian law researchers and practitioners. Academics’ viewpoints on the place of electronic evidence in the general system of evidence differ in the specialized literature. There is a point of view, that electronic evidence, by its nature, should be rated as the secondary one. The admissibility of such an evidence in criminal proceedings is regulated by common requirements of evidence gathering. However, it should be noted that electronic evidence differs from traditional evidence by its digital nature.