|
|
Document management and legal admissibility |
Are papers that have been scanned into a document management system legally admissible?
Depending on the type of business you run, you may be wary of electronic document management systems because you are often called upon to provide evidence to the courts. Whether you are a law practice, an insurance company or a planning department,, there are lots of businesses across the UK that are worried about the consequences of destroying original paper documents.
Legal admissibility has been a stumbling block since document management technology was introduced. Whilst courts accept that businesses and practices need to manage the huge quantities of paper they process, they need to be equally sure that there is no possibility of the original papers being tampered with either during scanning or once the electronic copy is made.
Document management to British Standards
As with many rules of evidence, it can often come down to the Judge's interpretation of the law as to whether a particular document can be ruled admissible or not. There are British Standards that set out the processes that must be followed in order to give a document the best chance of being admitted as original evidence. The standard - currently BIP 0008:2004 has at its heart:
- Originality - scanned documents are always accepted as evidence, but sometimes only as secondary evidence; the same standard as is applied to photocopied documents, for example. Those from a document management system must show that they are exact copies of the original in order to be accepted as primary evidence.
- Policies - your business needs to show that it has policies in place for the safe and secure scanning of documents. This will help you to show that the document is authentic. If you have strict policies set, but they were not followed in the scanning and filing of the paper in the document management system, the copy may be ruled inadmissible.
- Audit trail - you must be able to show not only that you have policies and procedures for secure scanning and storage in place, but that those procedures have been followed. This may also apply to any use or retrieval of the document once it is in the document management system. If anyone has archived to CD or DVD, for example, this must be logged in the audit trail so that it's clear exactly what has happened to the document since it came into your possession.
Document management - do you destroy originals?
The purpose of a document management system is to reduce the amount of paper in your workplace and the confusion that misplaced paper often causes. If you are worried about the legal admissibility of papers from your document management system, you could store all your papers off-site. This will increase your costs, but may be the right solution for you.
Document Dynamix provides solutions that help businesses to perform better. With electronic document management systems for data capture, business process management and integrated document management, Document Dynamix is the perfect choice for companies who want to see efficiency, productivity and client communications improve. Whether you're a small independent business or a multi-national, our solutions can save time and money. What's more, our approach to customer service, along with our eLearning programme means that you and your staff are getting the very best in training and support from start to finish. Use our "Contact Us" page now to register for more information.
|
|
