The Law, Document Scanning and You
Unfortunately good working practices and legal requirements dictate we
retain many types of documents showing correspondence, transactions and
research for many years before we can finally destroy them. All this means
huge areas of space are dedicated to storage and time spent on retrevial
Document scanning and electronic storage has grown into a structured and
controlled business. This had been driven by more and more business deciding
to move from paper based systems to proper electronic document management
systems, enabling companies to direct staff, time and space for more profitable
purposes.
One of the main reasons companies feel comfortable with paper is that
it will normally be accepted as valid or admissible in a court of law.
Here, we will attempt to address the legal issues which often arise when
businesses are deciding to move from paper or microfilm to digital images.
BSI DISC PD0008 : 2004
Legal Admissibility and Evidential Weight of Information Stored Electronically.
This standard is a benchmark for any business to follow in order to achieve
best practice and to achieve the best possible chance of their documents
being deemed ‘legally admissible’.
For an individual company to claim full compliance with this code would
mean the implementation of a very thorough and rigorous document management
procedure. Alternatively these businesses can work with a specialist imaging
company who have experience of this code to help identify the best system
for their needs.
If the code is adhered to wherever possible this will show official bodies
that a business has endeavoured to comply with the code for best practise
in their document management systems. It will also minimise the risk of
any document being presented to a court being rejected.
The code provides clear and concise direction for companies to implement
an acceptable document management system.
The code is based upon several principles and are core to the code regardless
of system or device:
- Recognise and understand all types of information – implement an information policy.
- Understand the legal issues and execute duty of care responsibilities.
- Identify and specify business processes and procedures.
- Identify enabling technologies to support business processes and procedures.
- Monitor and audit business processes and procedures.
As you can see the main theme is policy and audit.
This is applicable to systems and operational processes staff need to
comply with. With the audit providing the legal requirement thus ensuring
the procedures are running correctly throughout the business. With regular
audits any possible problems are identified and nullified.
Of course the policy will have to cover every aspect of the procedure
from document storage through scanning, indexing, document destruction
to back up staff security and of course audit procedures.
Auditing is basically making sure a company is following procedures which
in turn will provide the greatest chance of acceptance of the images in
a civil court.
Although these procedures are not impossible to implement they need proper
planning and constant monitoring. At Lightspeed we are constantly improving
our procedure to make sure we offer all our customers best practice.
The Civil Evidence Act 1995
This is one of the most important acts in the UK. Here the onus to is
move the question of admissibility to actual evidential weight carried
by the scanned document. This is determined by the procedures followed
by a company presenting any documents to the court.
So a company presenting documents that have not been altered since its
creation or has a clear audit trail that shows any and all changes since
its creation holds a greater ‘weight’ than a document that
cannot show these procedures.
Section 8 & 9 of the act demonstrate the
legal guidelines for electronic documents as evidence:
Section 8 states:
(1) Where a statement contained in a document is admissible as evidence
in civil proceedings, it may be proved:
(a) by the production of the original
(b) whether or not that document is still in existence, by the production
of a copy of that document or of the material part of it, authenticated
in such a manner as the court may approve.
(2) It is immaterial for this purpose how many removes there are between
a copy and its original.
Section 9 states:
(1) A document that is shown to form part of the records of a business
or public authority may be received in evidence in civil proceedings without
any further proof.
(2) A document should be taken to form part of the records of a business
or public authority if there is produced to a court a certificate to that
effect signed either by an officer of the business or authority to which
the records belong.
The law can be interpreted to show that an original document is not the
only admissible evidence in a civil court. Electronic copies of documents
are acceptable so long as their integrity can be shown.
The criminal court system which is based upon ‘beyond reasonable
doubt’ involves different requirements and businesses wishing to
adhere to these should consult a specialist lawyer.
The above information will lead to the question of how to show integrity
and the level of standard companies are required to adhere to for their
document management needs.
Acknowledgments
The Civil Evidence Act 1995.
BSI Publications - BS DISC PD0008 : 2004 Legal Admissibilty
and Evidential Weight of Information Stored Electronically.
DISCLAIMER
Lightspeed Business Solutions Limited always recommend that any company
wishing to pursue an electronic document management system consult a legal
expert before destroying any paperwork. This information is understood
to be correct at time of writing and is created for reference only. Lightspeed
Business Solutions will not be held responsible for any lost information,
accuracy of above information or legal action against companies who have
relied on this information.
The information on this page relates only to laws currently in
force within the United Kingdom.