Can my text messages be used as evidence in court?

In detail

Section 5 of the Act to establish a legal framework for information technology sets out the principle of technological neutrality: the legal value of a document “is neither increased nor diminished for the sole reason that a medium or technology has been chosen”. A text message, an email or a message in a messaging app is therefore not second-class evidence.

Section 7 of the same Act adds that there is no requirement to prove that the technology used ensures the integrity of the document, “unless the person contesting the admission of the document establishes, on a balance of probabilities, that the integrity of the document has been affected”. In other words, it is up to the other side to show that the message was tampered with, not up to you to prove in advance that it was not.

Two limits are worth knowing. First, you have to be able to link the message to its author: a name saved in your contacts does not, on its own, prove that the person named wrote the message. Second, the integrity of a document has to be maintained “over its life cycle” (s. 6), which means not cropping, retouching or reconstructing the exchanges.

What to document

The full, untruncated thread of the conversation, the exact number or identifier of the sender, the date and time displayed, and the original message kept intact on the device. Also note whatever ties the number to the person (a signature, phone calls, context).

Official sources

• Act to establish a legal framework for information technology, ss. 5, 6 and 7 (Légis Québec)
• Civil Code of Quebec, arts. 2857 and 2860 (Légis Québec)

Related questions

• Is a screenshot accepted as evidence?
• Can I record a conversation without telling the other person?
• Will the court accept my audio or video recording?
• Can I record a conversation between two other people?
• Can I film or photograph someone to prove what they are doing?

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