Judicial Inconsistency in Assessing Digital Photo and Video Evidence in Indonesian Civil Litigation: Authentication, Evidentiary Weight, and Legal Certainty

Abstrak

The rapid digitisation of evidence has intensified the use of photographs and videos as electronic evidence in Indonesian civil litigation. Although the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) substantively recognises such materials as valid evidence, the civil procedural codes (HIR/RBg) lack explicit rules on authentication, integrity verification, and evidentiary weight. This regulatory disharmony produces inconsistent judicial assessments, illustrated by Decision No. 11/Pdt.G/2020/PN Plw, which admitted the evidence as supplementary without digital forensic examination, and Decision No. 5/Pdt.G.S/2021/PN Rhl, which disregarded it entirely for the same reason. This study examines the legal status and evidentiary force of photographic and video evidence, analyses the inconsistency in judicial reasoning through a comparative reading of the two decisions, and evaluates the implications for legal certainty. Employing normative legal research with statute, case, and conceptual approaches, the analysis applies the principles of authenticity, integrity, and relevance, together with the doctrines of free evidentiary weight (vrij bewijskracht) and Radbruch’s legal certainty. The findings reveal that divergent standards applied to substantially similar evidence undermine predictability and erode public confidence in civil adjudication, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive procedural guidelines to bridge the gap between substantive recognition and formal verification of digital visual evidence.