The Italian Legal Framework Surrounding the Challenge of Digital Copies of Analog Documents

ABSTRACT Italian Supreme Court of Cassation’s ruling No. 26200/2024 addresses two fundamental issues concerning the admissibility and evidentiary value of photographic and digital copies of documents initially produced on analog media. First of all, the case examines procedural and substantive issues in disconformity claims related to electronically deposited documents. This decision, which confirms an already consolidated orientation of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, provides clarity on the application of Article 2719 of the Italian Civil Code with respect to the Online Civil Trial legislation (also known as “PCT”) by systematically reordering a coherent but fragmented caselaw. Furthermore, the judgment clarifies a broader procedural aspect, taking into account the role of the defender’s declaration of conformity under Article 16 decies of Decree-Law No. 179/2012, which was recently repealed by Legislative Decree No. 149/2022, as received and modified by Law No. 197/2022.

KEYWORDS Online civil trial - Digital evidence - Disconformity claims - Evidentiary value - Courts - Judges

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Background of the case and legal issues. – 2. Introduction to digital evidence in the Italian legal framework. – 2.1. The Legislative-Decree No. 82/2005. – 3. Challenging the conformity of digital copies under Article 2719 of the Civil Code. – 3.1. The distinction between Articles 2712 and 2719 of the Civil Code. – 3.2. The difference between the contestation and disavowal of the digital copy of an analog document. – 3.3. The contestation of conformity under Article 2719 of the Civil Code. – 3.4. The disavowal of the original document upon which the copy is based. – 3.5. The content and the form of the contestation under Article 2719 of the Civil Code. – 3.6. The timeframe to exercise the disavowal or contestation. – 4. The certification of conformity between the copy and the original document