The Admissibility of CCTV Evidence in Criminal Proceedings

As closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance becomes employed as a crime control technique the footage generated by security cameras will in turn become a progressively important source of evidence in criminal proceedings. While evidence of this nature may be conveniently described as 'video' evidence this description is likely to become increasingly inaccurate. The rapid development of digital technology means that it is now increasingly the case that security camera footage is recorded on computer disk rather than on video tape, this however is a gradual process and the majority of CCTV systems are likely to rely on traditional video technology for a number of years. By allowing the creation of more efficient automated CCTV systems the merging of computer and surveillance technology has great potential for law enforcement agencies. However digital technology also has potential pitfalls. Because all camera footage is stored in computer memory the images stored may be copied without any loss of quality and crucially may be altered in much the same way. Considering the implications of digital technology for the law of evidence this article examines the admissibility of evidence from CCTV cameras, tracing the development of the law from the admissibility of photographs to audio-tape, video-tape and digital images in terms of: evidential status (and the application of the hearsay rule); relevance; the exercise of judicial discretion; and provenance and authenticity.