Our previous article touched on the main points of the new evidence law approved in Saudi Arabia for the first time. Today, we will elaborate more on the new law’s reference to digital evidence in the era of technical progress we are currently witnessing, and the education that individuals need in general to make the most of the historical evidence law. Concerning digital evidence, the official digital evidence shall enjoy the same authenticity as the official regular evidence, which must fulfill the following conditions: A document issued and documented by a public official or a person charged with public service records and within the limits of his authority and competence. If the digital evidence does not fulfill the conditions set forth, it shall then have the authority of the ordinary evidence that the parties or stakeholders have signed. If this digital evidence was unofficial, then the dealing parties shall prove its accuracy and shall cover the following requirements, to be issued in accordance with the Electronic Transactions Law or the Electronic Commerce Law, if it was issued by a digital means stipulated in the contract in question or a digital means documented or circulated to the public. Also, the opponent who claims that the digital evidence provided in this law is incorrect has the burden of proving his claim. It is worth noting that the new law also touched on evidence procedures that took place outside the Kingdom. As without prejudice to the Kingdom’s obligations to the international agreements to which it is a party, the court may take the evidentiary procedures that took place outside Saudi Arabia, unless it violates the public laws of the Kingdom. Suppose litigants refuse to submit what the court has requested to verify the digital evidence without an acceptable excuse. In that case, he will be dismissing his right to hold on to it. In the event that it is not possible to verify the authenticity of the digital evidence for a reason that does not belong to the litigants, the court shall assess its validity based on the circumstances of the case. Indeed, the authenticity of evidence of all kinds after the application of this law will depend greatly on the awareness of the parties, as the parties’ agreement to document the evidence and agree on the mechanisms of proving it in advance will save them a great deal of time during litigation. In these stages, the role of legal rights’ culture comes in creating the knowledge of the individuals and parties specifically, whether by reading and understanding the law and asking authorities about any unclear areas or even through lawyers and legal professionals who deal with them. • Dimah Talal Alsharif is a Saudi lawyer and legal consultant. Twitter: @dimah_alsharif Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view