일본의 2022년 민사소송법 개정에 의한 전자정보에 대한 증거조사

The advancement of Information Technologies (IT) brings about changes in civil procedure. By integrating IT into the litigation proceedings, documents are now submitted online in the form of electronic documents to the court, and the case records are digitized. It has led to the transition to electronic litigation, where remote video trials are conducted without the need for direct attendance in the courtroom. In addition to the transition to electronic litigation, the development of IT has also had a comprehensive impact on civil procedure. One prominent example is electronic evidence, where various electronically produced, stored, and used data (referred to as “ESI”) is submitted as evidence in civil procedure. In order to achieve the ideals of civil procedure, such as appropriateness, fairness, efficiency, and economy, it is necessary to establish methods and proceedings for evidence rules that consider the characteristics of ESI. While Japan introduced electronic litigation through the amendment of the Civil Procedure Act of Japan in 2022, and established provisions regarding evidence rules of ESI, it falls short of providing rules that fully considers the unique characteristics of ESI, while maintaining the traditional evidentiary methods. Nonetheless, it is significant that a comprehensive and unified regulation has been established, laying the foundation for systematic regulations on the evidence rules of ESI, which may have implications for Korea.