ELECTRONIC MEANS OF PROOF IN CIVIL PROCESS

The purpose of the article is to explore the issues of electronic means of proof in the civil process of Ukraine and foreign countries, the problems of application, as well as to identify possible ways to improve them. Relevance of research is due to that the issue of electronic evidence is gaining new importance at the present stage during the rapid development and improvement of electronic means of communication and media which causes the emergence of new theoretical and practical problems in their application. In this regard, a comparative analysis of the legislative consolidation and practice of application of this topic in civil proceedings of foreign countries and Ukraine will provide an opportunity to identify further ways to modernize electronic evidence in general. Also, the problematic issues concerning their application during the trial have not been fully resolved and the peculiarities of other countries have not been singled out. Therefore, effective use of the achievements of scientific and technological progress has become an important issue in the judiciary due to the continuous computerization and informatization. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of available scientific and theoretical material and the formulation of relevant conclusions and proposals. The following general scientific methods of cognition were used during the research: dialectical, terminological, logical-semantic, system-structural, logical-normative, comparative. The issues of legislative regulation of electronic evidence in Ukraine and other countries, their key differences, as well as the author’s ways to improve electronic evidence by borrowing best practices from other countries, including the United States. Problematic aspects of legislative consolidation of electronic evidence have been identified, the possibility of introducing forensic methods into the civil process to establish the authenticity of the provided electronic evidence and application of the blockchain system in order to prevent their destruction has been assessed. The current legal positions from judicial practice were given and analyzed on the issues under consideration. The results of the study can be used in lawmaking and law enforcement activities for the use of electronic evidence in civil proceedings.