Evidentiary Digital Platforms: What the Al Mahdi and Al Hassan Cases Teach Us about Presenting Voluminous Digital Data

What is it about?

Modern armed conflicts result in the production of large amounts of digital data, much of which is shared online. All of this results in terabytes of data that might be potentially relevant for investigating war crimes and other atrocities. For that reason, many governmental and non-governmental organisations, such as Bellingcat and others, collect this data and sometimes submit it to the International Criminal Court [ICC], so it can hold perpetrators accountable. Thus, the ICC has to deal with a voluminous amount of digital evidence, which might affect its efficiency. This article discusses the possibility of using interactive digital platforms to present this large amount of visual data in an accessible manner. Based on the Al Mahdi and Al Hassan cases, which introduced these platforms in the ICC, the article defines a digital platform that accumulates within itself a lot of evidence – an ‘evidentiary digital platform’. Then, it discusses the nature of these platforms, proving that they are evidence and not mere visual aids. This research points out the advantages of evidentiary digital platforms, such as virtual access to remote crime scenes, improving cognitive skills in the understanding of evidence and presenting digital data in a user-friendly manner. The article also addresses the disadvantages of platforms, such as the high costs of developing a platform, its increased persuasiveness and the participation of a third party in creating platforms for the ICC.

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