Admissibility of a Video As Evidence in a Court: its Presentation and Probative Value

To general public, all videos are perceived to be true, but they may not have probative value in the Court of law. The undertaken article analyzes the admissibility and probative value of a video presented as evidence before a court in the Criminal Justice System of Pakistan (CJSP). It analyzes the relevant law and diagnoses the problems with the video evidence through the lens of the judgments of Superior Courts. The court of law objectively ascertains that a video presented as evidentiary means bears significant relevance to the fact in question. It must be admissible under the law, and it must be proved to be genuine. To fill up the gap between a “Video” and a “Video Evidence”, there is a process, which is known as video authentication. It determines that the video contents are genuine, authentic, credible, unaltered, untampered and unfabricated. The study discusses various modes of video authentication. Precedents set by superior courts of Pakistan show that convictions have been made once the courts are satisfied with the credibility of video evidence. In the court of law, video evidence is normally presented after the completion of prosecution evidence. The video is played in court and is watched by the presence. But the researcher establishes that such process does not have legal justification. The article suggests that it would be legal and proper for the prosecution to produce the video evidence through the witness, during his evidence, who is either victim, witness, recorded and/or copied the video directly from original source such as C.C.T.V system and that witness would be subjected to cross examination.

The Turkish Model of a Modern Muslim State: A Case Study 2002-2014

The term ‘Turkish model’ first appeared in the academic and media discourse during the post - cold war days, in order to show a direction to the newly independent Central Asian states, searching for a new identity for themselves under new circumstances. Turkey, as a secular Muslim state having old ties with Central Asian region was presented as a model for the region. Later, the post 9/11 global scenario once again brought the idea of the Turkish model in the limelight. At a time when the global war on terror was seen as an evidence of an inevitable clash between Islam and the West, the idea of the Turkish model showed the possibility of reconciliation between the two. Turkish model as a bridge across Islam and the West generated further academic interest as a new conservative democratic party AKP came to power in Turkey. The new party had Islamist roots, yet it advocated a liberal democratic agenda. The phenomenal economic success of Turkey in the following years enhanced the academic and media interest in the case of Turkey. Later, as the Arab Spring revolutionized the political context of the Middle East, Turkish model became a popular idea amongst the Arab masses protesting in the streets. The popularity of the idea however, sharply declined in the following years due to rising political instability in and outside Turkey. The current study examines the case of the idea of the Turkish model through the theoretical lens provided by the clash of civilizations narrative. It makes an extensive examination of the historical context of the idea. Then it undertakes a cross sectional, comparative discourse analysis of the idea of the Turkish model as constructed by academics from the West, the Muslim world and Turkey. The study also includes a longitudinal analysis of the academic construction of the idea of the Turkish model during 2002-2014. The study finds that contrary to the clash of civilizations narrative, the academic discourse from the West, the Muslim world and Turkey tend to present similar ideas on and around the Turkish model. It is compatibility rather than a clash of ideas which emerges as a dominant trend in the academic discourse across civilizations.