Whereas the law is now clear that electronic evidence is admissible in civil cases, the challenge of proving authenticity of that evidence still troubles many of us. Some of the reasons for that challenge is that electronic evidence comes in different forms and the law is not yet very clear on which exactly are the acceptable ways of proving authenticity of each category of electronic evidence. The challenge is even greater when it comes to materials obtained from the internet because, as widely understood, those materials are considered to be less authentic and they can be easily tampered with.
While we are still waiting for those legal uncertainties to be solved, we would like to share one very useful method for proving authenticity of internet materials. We shall be guided by the case of Tecno Telecom Limited v. Kigalo Investments Ltd which is reported in the East Africa Law Reports [2013]2, case number 376. One of the questions in that case was whether the internet materials presented before the court as evidence were authentic or not.
The court decided that those materials are authentic since the websites from which the materials were obtained were clearly indicated, and so one could easily access the websites to verify the information. On that basis, the internet materials were admitted and relied upon in deciding the case.
Therefore, according to that decision, indicating the website from which the internet material was obtained is a legally acceptable method for proving authenticity of internet materials in a court of law.