Today’s episode focuses on the challenges of digitally sourced evidence in relation to crimes and how international courts can keep up.

To help us unpack the fast-changing role of digital evidence and its place in international criminal law, we sat down with friend of the pod Sarah Zarmsky, a former open-source investigator who is now a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast Law School.

Sarah walks us through some of the terminology outlined in the ICC’s draft policy on cyber-enabled crimes, as well as the promises and pitfalls of AI-powered evidence analysis, and why survivor-centered approaches are urgently needed when handling sensitive digital material.

She also explains why some “digital harms,” which is the term Sarah prefers, such as mass surveillance, online sexual violence, and hate speech, should be treated as seriously as physical atrocities.

For recommendations this week, Sarah has been enjoying the most recent season of the TV series The Bear and has just finished reading Sunrise of the Reaping, the latest Hunger Games book.