Questions of Procedural Proof Using Correspondence in Messengers: Theory and Practice

Today, electronic correspondence is one of the main types of communication of both citizens and organizations, however, its use as evidence in the course of a trial is hampered by the lack of appropriate subject-matter legal regulation in the procedural branches of law. The objectives of this study are to study the essence and content of such a category as electronic correspondence, as well as the possibilities of integrating the object of study into legislative provisions on evidence. To achieve the goals set, a number of practical and theoretical aspects of the use of electronic correspondence as evidence in domestic procedural branches have been studied. The article, using a formal-logical approach, analyzes the legislative provisions that regulate the issues of evaluation and use of evidence in the procedural branches of law, based on the essence and content of the object under study, and assesses the possibility of e-mail correlation with the types of evidence existing in the legislation. It is concluded that electronic correspondence is a category unique in its essence and content, and its analogy with any existing and legally fixed types of evidence is unacceptable. Such a conclusion is based, among other things, on the main problems of using electronic correspondence as evidence – verification of the content of electronic correspondence and verification of subjects of electronic correspondence. Therefore, any measures for the proper assurance of electronic correspondence applied in relation to written evidence does not solve the problems associated with the proper verification of the collision and the subjects of electronic correspondence. Specific measures are proposed to legalize electronic correspondence as evidence in domestic procedural branches.