Spoilation Doctrine
Definition
The legal principle that a party who destroys or materially alters evidence relevant to litigation may be penalised. Sanctions range from an adverse inference instruction (the jury may presume the destroyed evidence was unfavourable) to dismissal of the spoliating party's claim or defence.
- Applies to
- Any party who destroys or alters relevant evidence
- Mildest sanction
- Adverse inference instruction to the jury
- Severest sanction
- Dismissal of the spoliating party's claim or defence
- Legal domain
- Civil and criminal litigation
Common questions
Does spoliation require intent to destroy evidence?+
Not always. Many jurisdictions permit sanctions for negligent loss of evidence once a duty to preserve has arisen, though the severity of the sanction usually scales with how culpable the destruction was.
When does the duty to preserve evidence begin?+
It generally begins once litigation is reasonably anticipated, which can be well before a lawsuit is filed, which is why organisations issue preservation notices as soon as a dispute becomes foreseeable.
Related terms
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- Joint Inspection
- An examination of physical evidence attended by the experts for all parties under an agreed protocol. Joint inspection ensures that each expert...
- Legal Hold
- A directive from legal counsel instructing relevant people within an organisation to preserve documents, data, and physical items that may be relevant...
- Photogrammetry
- A technique that uses overlapping photographs to reconstruct three-dimensional geometry from two-dimensional images. In forensic engineering, photogrammetry and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) software allow...
- Spoliation Letter
- A written notice from one party to another (or to a third party with custody of the evidence) demanding that specific items...