Journal article 162 views 2 downloads
New evidence, new challenges
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Anne Hausknecht,
Alice Liefgreen
Oñati Socio-Legal Series, Volume: 16, Issue: 1
Swansea University Authors:
Yvonne McDermott Rees , Anne Hausknecht, Alice Liefgreen
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Copyright (c) 2026 Prof. Yvonne McDermott, Anne Hausknecht, Dr Alice Liefgreen. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.35295/osls.iisl.2375
Abstract
Evidence recorded on personal digital devices, or “user-generated evidence”, has profoundly shaped our ways of knowing about international criminal law violations, and can be expected to play an important role in future cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, given that interna...
| Published in: | Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
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| ISSN: | 2079-5971 2079-5971 |
| Published: |
Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71069 |
| Abstract: |
Evidence recorded on personal digital devices, or “user-generated evidence”, has profoundly shaped our ways of knowing about international criminal law violations, and can be expected to play an important role in future cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, given that international criminal trials tend to take place many years after the alleged violations, trials using this type of evidence have been relatively limited in number to date. This research, comprising of qualitative interviews with judges of the ICC, provides important insights into how ICC judges define user-generated evidence and perceive its strengths and weaknesses. The article also sheds light on the readiness of the Court to adapt to judging in an age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Using grounded theory to analyse interview content, we identified several key themes consistent with the existing literature, while also drawing out novel observations from judges. These included concerns about the perceived importance and potential bias of evidence sources; the practical challenges of employing user-generated evidence given the sheer volume of material and the Court’s technological capacities; the burden placed on the parties to ensure the reliability of the evidence they present, and to rigorously challenge the opposing party’s evidence, and the importance of preparing legal professionals for this new era in light of the risks associated with misinformation and disinformation, including from AI-generated or AI-edited content. |
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| Keywords: |
User-generated evidence, citizen evidence, International Criminal Court, judges, deepfakes |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
The research upon which this article is based was conducted as part of the project, “Trust in User-generated Evidence: Analysing the Impact of Deepfakes on Accountability Processes for Human Rights Violations (TRUE)”, selected for funding by the European Research Council and funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Horizon Europe guarantee scheme (grant no. EP/X016021/1). |
| Issue: |
1 |