How to get a webpage or website as evidence properly in court?

Ricardo1980

Hello,

I am going to court regarding something about a deposit (long story). The thing is one of the evidences is a website.
How should I take that website to use it as an evidence? A screenshot? Just saving the entire website?

I have to say that once I disclose my witness statements, my defendant will see it and remove it, because he is the owner of that webiste (he does not know I know about the website).

Is there any 3rd party service to save a specific website at this moment to use it in court later? Or what should I do? I know that the jugde probably want to see it live, but I am totally sure my defendant will remove it (I would do the same).

Thanks for suggestions.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd take a screenshot personally.

Also it may be on the Internet Archive - https://www.archive.org - ie the Wayback Machine.

Ricardo1980

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I'd take a screenshot personally.

Also it may be on the Internet Archive - https://www.archive.org - ie the Wayback Machine.

Seems that https://www.archive.org is for general websites, this one is a personal website and the page I really need has several parameters in the URL (to specify an exact post).

Can I add any website there?

I know in some countries there is a specific protocol to follow regarding using a website in court, but not sure in the UK.

david1951

I don't know the answer to your specific question about a 3rd party service (sorry). But...

I think it would depend on what you are trying to prove. Is it a photo on the website? Or a statement by the other party?

Your witness statement can refer to a screenshot and this could be used as evidence. The judge will decide how much weight he gives to the evidence based on whether it is challenged, and how reliable it is. Again it depends on the situation.

A witness statement from an independent person attesting to the content of the website might be better, if you think the other side will challenge the evidence. They might need to appear in court with you, however.

HouseBuyer77

Certainly in firefox if you right click on a webpage and go to 'save page as...' it'll save the page fully so you can load it up offline (though check by moving it to another computer, disconnect it from the internet and open it).

Perhaps have a friend film you opening the website? Whilst this kind of thing can be faked it does require some technical skill and civil cases are done on the balance of probability. So hopefully these two things will prove useful should he remove it.

Another thing to do is go to google.com and search for the precise URL click the little green down arrow next to the link and click on 'Cached'

Doing this for this post gives: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9P3zESpB8OEJ:forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D5560750%26goto%3Dnewpost+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Which is very up to date.

HouseBuyer77

Hmm the forums ate that URL.

Try

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9P3zESpB8OEJ:forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D5560750%26goto%3Dnewpost+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Ricardo1980

I need a statement from him with an image.
I could use google cache, but as soon as he momdifies the website, I'm not sure if google is going to overwrite the original website or not.
I'm going to do that video.

Ricardo1980

This is what I need:
https://www.egarante.com/
A service that takes a screenshot of a specific website with a timestamp to be used in court.
The problem is that that website is only used in Spain (and it is in Spanish)
Do you know a similar service in Engllish?
Thanks a lot.

agrinnall

I use http://webcitation.org/archive to make a copy of a webpage.

Miss_Samantha

I think a belt and braces approach would be to print the web page then ask a solicitor to issue a witness statement certifying that the printout is accurate on that date.

Ricardo1980

agrinnall wrote: »

I use http://webcitation.org/archive to make a copy of a webpage.

I'm going to try to use it, although I see " making it "citable" in an academic context."

Evidently, this is not an academic document.
Will let you know.