Most business today is conducted through email and messaging apps, and entire deals are closed without a single sheet of paper. When a dispute arises, this correspondence becomes the most important thing either party holds. The Saudi Law of Evidence regulates digital evidence and gives it its place among the means of proof, but its real weight depends largely on how it is preserved and presented.
What counts as digital evidence?
Digital evidence covers anything created, sent or stored by electronic means. Examples include:
- Emails and their attachments.
- Conversations in messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
- Electronically signed contracts and documents.
- Records generated by electronic systems and platforms, such as accounting systems and online stores.
What strengthens digital evidence?
Not all correspondence carries equal weight. A message sent from an official email address designated in the contract between the parties, or from a number known to belong to the other party, is far stronger than a message from an unknown account. Factors that strengthen the evidence include:
- The channel of communication being agreed in the contract or customarily used between the parties.
- The evidence being preserved in its original format with its data, not only as a screenshot.
- The thread being complete, not a single message taken out of context.
- The absence of anything indicating alteration or deletion.
How to preserve your correspondence from now on
- Export important conversations using the app's built-in feature, and keep a copy off the device.
- Do not delete messages, even unpleasant ones; the full context may work in your favour.
- Keep the devices on which important correspondence took place where possible, and do not reset them.
- Unify communication channels with clients and suppliers on the company's official email rather than personal numbers.
- Confirm verbal agreements in writing with a short message after every important meeting.
Mistakes that weaken the evidence
Among the most common things we see are cropped screenshots that do not show the date or the number, reliance on a conversation with an employee who has no authority to represent the company, and delay in preserving evidence until the account is closed or the device is lost. The opponent may challenge the authenticity of the evidence, and a well-preserved original is what settles that.
Electronically signed documents
If your company concludes its contracts electronically, make sure signing takes place through a reliable method that records the signatory’s identity and the date of signature, and keep the final approved copy of each contract in a single, organised location. An electronic contract whose original copy is hard to retrieve, or whose signatory’s identity is hard to verify, loses much of its strength in a dispute.
The message you write calmly and clearly today may be the strongest document in your file tomorrow.
If your digital correspondence is at the heart of your dispute, reviewing it with a lawyer before submission helps you choose what to present and how to present it, and avoid what might be read against you.