The digitalization of modern society has significantly changed the way in which participants in legal relations interact, including the ways in which legally relevant information is formed, transmitted, and stored. The increasing role of digital technologies and electronic communications necessitates a rethink of traditional legal approaches to the collection, verification and evaluation of evidence, especially in court proceedings.

In recent years, Bulgaria has adopted significant changes in procedural legislation aimed at adapting the legal system to the digital environment. Nevertheless, despite the existence of a common regulatory framework, significant gaps remain in law enforcement practice, especially with regard to the assessment of digital footprints, metadata, time-sensitive data (for example, RAM) and other non-standard electronic media. The problem lies not only in the technical ability to extract and store such data, but also in the legal interpretation of their evidentiary value in the context of establishing objective truth. The purpose of this study is to analyze the possibilities of using digital data as evidence in Bulgarian legal proceedings, identify existing regulatory and practical barriers, and propose a methodology to ensure the legal admissibility, reliability, and reproducibility of electronic evidence. Within the framework of this work, an attempt is being made to integrate international technical standards and principles of forensic examination with national legal practice, which will create the basis for further unification and standardization of work with digital evidence in Bulgarian justice.

BANKOVA D.

doctoral student, St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria

E-mail: bankovagan@fmi.uni-sofia.bg, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9261-2842

DIMITROV V.

professor, St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria

E-mail: cht@fmi.uni-sofia.bg, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7441-253X

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