Utilizing New Technologies to Solve Problems of Evidence: The Case of Pakistan and India Legal Systems’ Integration into a Digital World

Abstract

The rapid transformation of legal frameworks has reshaped the process of collection, presentation and preservation of evidence in legal forums across the world. In Pakistan in India, the notion of blending new technologies onto the evidentiary mechanism provides for opportunities and risks. This paper attempts to examine how blockchain authentication, digital forensics as well as artificial intelligence are revamping the evidentiary principles in these countries, with specific reliance on admissibility, relevance, reliability and integrity of such electronic evidence. It discovers the legislative instruments such as the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order as well as the India’s Evidence Act, and determine their competency in addressing the technicalities of cyber evidence, cross-border data transfers and digital chain of custody. The paper identifies major gaps in the judicial system such as the lack of proper standards, technological and infrastructural defects which hinder ideal application. Through analyzing comparative reforms and judicial decisions, the paper suggests ways for harmonizing evidentiary framework with the international standards, while striking a balance between due process and innovation. Lastly, the paper argues that Pakistan and India needs to meet the requirements of a rapidly advancing legal environment through incorporating secure and efficient digital tools in their legal systems.

Keywords: Digital Evidence, Electronic Records, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Comparative Legal System