Former journalist urges The Gambia to adapt law to digital evidence
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Gambiana
A former Gambian court reporter is calling for clarity on how courts handle digital evidence, including secret recordings, screenshots and encrypted messages. He highlights issues of authenticity, privacy and fairness, and is calling for a national debate on adapting the 1994 Evidence Act.
The former Gambian journalist and ex-court reporter who wrote an opinion piece published by Gambiana is calling for the 1994 Evidence Act to be adapted to the realities of digital evidence. He raises, in particular, the question of whether secret recordings and audio or video files presented on a medium other than the original device are admissible.
The author notes that phones, screenshots, WhatsApp messages and digital surveillance are now commonplace in The Gambia. Their use in political, family or commercial disputes raises, he says, questions about the authenticity, privacy, fairness and reliability of evidence.
The opinion piece does not settle these legal questions. It invites lawyers, judges, academics and public officials to open a national debate on how courts can reconcile the search for truth with respect for privacy in the digital age.
