Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: The advancement of information technology in the digital era has introduced new dimensions to legal proceedings, particularly through the emergence of electronic evidence. This includes screenshots of digital conversations, electronically produced documents, and other forms of digital records. These new evidentiary types have begun to play a significant role in civil litigation, including inheritance disputes. In the Indonesian legal system, the increasing reliance on electronic documents presents both opportunities and challenges. Questions arise concerning the admissibility, authenticity, and legal force of such evidence, especially in sensitive cases like inheritance, where traditional documentation is often favored. This paper specifically addresses the complexity surrounding the evaluation and use of electronic evidence in Indonesian civil courts, emphasizing its growing importance in delivering justice in the modern legal landscape.
Purpose: This study examines the judicial assessment of electronic evidence in inheritance disputes through a case study of Decision No. 22/PDT.G/2021/PN DGL at the Donggala District Court. The research aims to analyze how electronic communications, particularly WhatsApp chats, are evaluated as valid proof under Indonesian civil procedural law and their relevance to the Islamic legal concept of bayyinah.
Methods: Using a normative juridical approach with statute and case analysis, the study reviews primary legal sources, including the Civil Code, the Herziene Indonesisch Reglement (HIR), and the Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) Law, complemented by secondary literature
Results: The findings reveal that the court recognized electronic evidence as valid proof when it met formal requirements (printing, stamping, and verification) and material requirements (relevance and uncontested authenticity). The Defendants’ electronic submissions were deemed legally sufficient to prove the transfer of property during the decedent’s lifetime, whereas the Plaintiff’s evidence was rejected for lack of probative value.
Implication: The study highlights the need for clearer judicial guidelines, enhanced digital forensic literacy among judges, and legal reforms such as digital notarization and certified e-filing systems to strengthen evidentiary reliability in line with Sharia principles.
Originality: The novelty of this research lies in its integration of electronic evidence within the framework of Islamic procedural law, interpreting digital communications as a modern manifestation of bayyinah.
Purpose: This study examines the judicial assessment of electronic evidence in inheritance disputes through a case study of Decision No. 22/PDT.G/2021/PN DGL at the Donggala District Court. The research aims to analyze how electronic communications, particularly WhatsApp chats, are evaluated as valid proof under Indonesian civil procedural law and their relevance to the Islamic legal concept of bayyinah.
Methods: Using a normative juridical approach with statute and case analysis, the study reviews primary legal sources, including the Civil Code, the Herziene Indonesisch Reglement (HIR), and the Electronic Information and Transactions (EIT) Law, complemented by secondary literature
Results: The findings reveal that the court recognized electronic evidence as valid proof when it met formal requirements (printing, stamping, and verification) and material requirements (relevance and uncontested authenticity). The Defendants’ electronic submissions were deemed legally sufficient to prove the transfer of property during the decedent’s lifetime, whereas the Plaintiff’s evidence was rejected for lack of probative value.
Implication: The study highlights the need for clearer judicial guidelines, enhanced digital forensic literacy among judges, and legal reforms such as digital notarization and certified e-filing systems to strengthen evidentiary reliability in line with Sharia principles.
Originality: The novelty of this research lies in its integration of electronic evidence within the framework of Islamic procedural law, interpreting digital communications as a modern manifestation of bayyinah.
Keywords
Electronic EvidenceBayyinahCivil Disputes
Article Details
How to Cite
Valentdava Wahyudi, A., & Winanti, A. (2026). Evidentiary Strength of Electronic Evidence in Civil Disputes within the Framework of Bayyinah: A Case Study of Decision No. 22/PDT.G/2021/PN DGL. DIKTUM: Jurnal Syariah Dan Hukum, 24(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.35905/diktum.v24i1.14748
References
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interoperability of heterogenous digital evidence. In International Conference on
Ubiquitous Security (pp. 420–435). Springer Nature Singapore. Borgstede, M., & Scholz, M. (2021). Quantitative and qualitative approaches to generalization
and replication–A representationalist View. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 605191. Cabral, L., et al. (2021). The EU Digital Markets Act: A report from a panel of economic
experts. Publications Office of the European Union. D’Anna, T., et al. (2023, February). The chain of custody in the era of modern forensics: From
the classic procedures for gathering evidence to the new challenges related to digital
data. Healthcare, 11(5), 634. Davidson, C. M. (2022). To my children in equal shares: The flaw of estate planning when
property is devised to beneficiaries as tenants in common. ACTEC Law Journal, 47(23), 3.
Dmitrieva, A. A., & Pastukhov, P. S. (2023). Concept of electronic evidence in criminal legal
procedure. Journal of Digital Technologies and Law, 1(1). Djuraev, I., et al. (2025). The impact of digitization on legal systems in developing
countries. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(1), 81–117. Grobman, K. (2025). Heirs' property disputes: Evaluating ADR forums to change the status
quo. Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, 25(1), 48–73. Hamzani, A. I., Widyastuti, T. V., Khasanah, N., & Rusli, M. H. M. (2023). Legal research
method: Theoretical and implementative review. International Journal of Membrane
Science and Technology, 10(2), 3610–3619. Karjoko, L., Jaelani, A. K., Tegnan, H., Glaser, H., & Hayat, M. J. (2021). Islamic court ’ s
approach to land dispute in inheritance cases. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 21(2). Karunarathna, I., Gunasena, P., Hapuarachchi, T., & Gunathilake, S. (2024). The crucial role of
data collection in research: Techniques, challenges, and best practices. Uva Clinical
Research, 1–24. Komalasari, R., & Mustafa, C. (2023). Electronic evidence in the healthy justice
system: Reimagined. Jurnal Hukum dan Peradilan, 12(3), 547–580. Latifiani, D., Baidhowi, B., Herlambang, P. H., Winarno, F. R., & Habiburrahman, A. (2024). Can
advocates ’ legal culture in civil law enforcement drive reform in Indonesia ’ s modern
justice system? Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 5(3). Lescrauwaet, L., Wagner, H., Yoon, C., & Shukla, S. (2022). Adaptive legal frameworks and
economic dynamics in emerging technologies: Navigating the intersection for responsible
innovation. Law and Economics, 16(3), 202–220. Lim, W. M. (2025). What is qualitative research? An overview and guidelines. Australasian
Marketing Journal, 33(2),199–229. Loffi, L., Camillo, G. L., De Souza, C. A., Westphall, C. M., &
Westphall, C. B. (2025). Management of the chain of custody of digital evidence using
blockchain and self-sovereign identities: A systematic literature review. IEEE Access. Ma, L., et al. (2021, July). Legal judgment prediction with multi-stage case representation
learning in the real court setting. In Proceedings of the 44th International ACM SIGIR
Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (pp. 993–1002). Majdoub, I., & Atmani, K. (2025). Privacy paradigm shift: Zero knowledge proofs in criminal eevidence collection. In Cybercrime Unveiled: Technologies for Analysing Legal
Complexity (pp. 151–175). Springer Nature Switzerland. Morgan, J. (2023). Wrongful convictions and claims of false or misleading forensic
evidence. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 68(3), 908–961. Moussa, A. F. (2021). Electronic evidence and its authenticity in forensic evidence. Egyptian
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 11(1), 20.
Nath, S., Summers, K., Baek, J., & Ahn, G. J. (2024, October). Digital evidence chain of
custody: Navigating new realities of digital forensics. In 2024 IEEE 6th International
Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Intelligent Systems, and Applications (TPSISA) (pp. 11–20). IEEE. Pitaloka, D. (2025). E-court: A digital disruption in law enforcement and its impact on judicial
efficiency in Indonesia. Ex Aequo Et Bono Journal of Law, 2(2), 82–95. Peterson, D., Bedner, A., & Berenschot, W. (2025). The perils of legal formalism: Litigating
land conflicts in Indonesia.Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1–22. Pyo, J., Lee, W., Choi, E. Y., Jang, S. G., & Ock, M. (2023). Qualitative research in
healthcare: Necessity and characteristics. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public
Health, 56(1), 12. Rana, A. A., et al. (2022). Admissibility and evidentiary value of electronic evidence in criminal
cases: A case study of Pakistan. JL & Soc. Pol'y, 27. Republik Indonesia. Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi
Elektronik. (2008). Rozenshtein, A. Z. (2021). Silicon Valley's speech: Technology giants and the deregulatory
First Amendment. J. Free Speech L., 1, 337. Sari, F. R. (2024). Alat bukti elektronik pada praktik beracara di Pengadilan Agama Lumajang
(Studi Putusan Nomor 852/Pdt.G/2023/PA.Lmj) [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Maulana
Malik Ibrahim Malang]. Setyowati, N., Suwadi, P., & Muryanto, Y. T. (2024). Electronic court in
Indonesia. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Law, Economic & Good
Governance (pp. 174–178). Siddiqi, M., & Ilyas, I. (2025). The implementation of electronic evidence presentation in civil
proceedings. Grimsa Social Sciences, 1(1), 10–15. Subekti, R., & Tjitrosudibuio, R. (2009). Kitab Undang – Undang Hukum Perdata. Pradya
Paramita. Ulbricht, B. R., Moxley, C., Austin, M. D., & Norburg, M. D. (2022). Digital eyewitnesses: Using
new technologies to authenticate evidence in human rights litigation. Stanford Law
Review, 74, 851. Yavuz, N., Karkin, N., & Yildiz, M. (2022). E-Justice: A review and agenda for future
research. In Scientific Foundations of Digital Governance and Transformation (pp. 385–
414). Yusuf, N. A. S. (2023). Implementation of the e-litigation system in civil cases in the COVID-
19 pandemic situation. Disruption Law Review, 1(1), 64–77. Zulkarnain, P., & Zarzani, T. R. (2024, July). Legal challenges in electronic transactions and ecommerce. In Law Sinergy Conference (1(1), pp. 247–254).
References
Alshumrani, A., Clarke, N., & Ghita, B. (2023, November). A unified knowledge graph to permit
interoperability of heterogenous digital evidence. In International Conference on
Ubiquitous Security (pp. 420–435). Springer Nature Singapore. Borgstede, M., & Scholz, M. (2021). Quantitative and qualitative approaches to generalization
and replication–A representationalist View. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 605191. Cabral, L., et al. (2021). The EU Digital Markets Act: A report from a panel of economic
experts. Publications Office of the European Union. D’Anna, T., et al. (2023, February). The chain of custody in the era of modern forensics: From
the classic procedures for gathering evidence to the new challenges related to digital
data. Healthcare, 11(5), 634. Davidson, C. M. (2022). To my children in equal shares: The flaw of estate planning when
property is devised to beneficiaries as tenants in common. ACTEC Law Journal, 47(23), 3.
Dmitrieva, A. A., & Pastukhov, P. S. (2023). Concept of electronic evidence in criminal legal
procedure. Journal of Digital Technologies and Law, 1(1). Djuraev, I., et al. (2025). The impact of digitization on legal systems in developing
countries. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(1), 81–117. Grobman, K. (2025). Heirs' property disputes: Evaluating ADR forums to change the status
quo. Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, 25(1), 48–73. Hamzani, A. I., Widyastuti, T. V., Khasanah, N., & Rusli, M. H. M. (2023). Legal research
method: Theoretical and implementative review. International Journal of Membrane
Science and Technology, 10(2), 3610–3619. Karjoko, L., Jaelani, A. K., Tegnan, H., Glaser, H., & Hayat, M. J. (2021). Islamic court ’ s
approach to land dispute in inheritance cases. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 21(2). Karunarathna, I., Gunasena, P., Hapuarachchi, T., & Gunathilake, S. (2024). The crucial role of
data collection in research: Techniques, challenges, and best practices. Uva Clinical
Research, 1–24. Komalasari, R., & Mustafa, C. (2023). Electronic evidence in the healthy justice
system: Reimagined. Jurnal Hukum dan Peradilan, 12(3), 547–580. Latifiani, D., Baidhowi, B., Herlambang, P. H., Winarno, F. R., & Habiburrahman, A. (2024). Can
advocates ’ legal culture in civil law enforcement drive reform in Indonesia ’ s modern
justice system? Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 5(3). Lescrauwaet, L., Wagner, H., Yoon, C., & Shukla, S. (2022). Adaptive legal frameworks and
economic dynamics in emerging technologies: Navigating the intersection for responsible
innovation. Law and Economics, 16(3), 202–220. Lim, W. M. (2025). What is qualitative research? An overview and guidelines. Australasian
Marketing Journal, 33(2),199–229. Loffi, L., Camillo, G. L., De Souza, C. A., Westphall, C. M., &
Westphall, C. B. (2025). Management of the chain of custody of digital evidence using
blockchain and self-sovereign identities: A systematic literature review. IEEE Access. Ma, L., et al. (2021, July). Legal judgment prediction with multi-stage case representation
learning in the real court setting. In Proceedings of the 44th International ACM SIGIR
Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (pp. 993–1002). Majdoub, I., & Atmani, K. (2025). Privacy paradigm shift: Zero knowledge proofs in criminal eevidence collection. In Cybercrime Unveiled: Technologies for Analysing Legal
Complexity (pp. 151–175). Springer Nature Switzerland. Morgan, J. (2023). Wrongful convictions and claims of false or misleading forensic
evidence. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 68(3), 908–961. Moussa, A. F. (2021). Electronic evidence and its authenticity in forensic evidence. Egyptian
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 11(1), 20.
Nath, S., Summers, K., Baek, J., & Ahn, G. J. (2024, October). Digital evidence chain of
custody: Navigating new realities of digital forensics. In 2024 IEEE 6th International
Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Intelligent Systems, and Applications (TPSISA) (pp. 11–20). IEEE. Pitaloka, D. (2025). E-court: A digital disruption in law enforcement and its impact on judicial
efficiency in Indonesia. Ex Aequo Et Bono Journal of Law, 2(2), 82–95. Peterson, D., Bedner, A., & Berenschot, W. (2025). The perils of legal formalism: Litigating
land conflicts in Indonesia.Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1–22. Pyo, J., Lee, W., Choi, E. Y., Jang, S. G., & Ock, M. (2023). Qualitative research in
healthcare: Necessity and characteristics. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public
Health, 56(1), 12. Rana, A. A., et al. (2022). Admissibility and evidentiary value of electronic evidence in criminal
cases: A case study of Pakistan. JL & Soc. Pol'y, 27. Republik Indonesia. Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi
Elektronik. (2008). Rozenshtein, A. Z. (2021). Silicon Valley's speech: Technology giants and the deregulatory
First Amendment. J. Free Speech L., 1, 337. Sari, F. R. (2024). Alat bukti elektronik pada praktik beracara di Pengadilan Agama Lumajang
(Studi Putusan Nomor 852/Pdt.G/2023/PA.Lmj) [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Maulana
Malik Ibrahim Malang]. Setyowati, N., Suwadi, P., & Muryanto, Y. T. (2024). Electronic court in
Indonesia. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Law, Economic & Good
Governance (pp. 174–178). Siddiqi, M., & Ilyas, I. (2025). The implementation of electronic evidence presentation in civil
proceedings. Grimsa Social Sciences, 1(1), 10–15. Subekti, R., & Tjitrosudibuio, R. (2009). Kitab Undang – Undang Hukum Perdata. Pradya
Paramita. Ulbricht, B. R., Moxley, C., Austin, M. D., & Norburg, M. D. (2022). Digital eyewitnesses: Using
new technologies to authenticate evidence in human rights litigation. Stanford Law
Review, 74, 851. Yavuz, N., Karkin, N., & Yildiz, M. (2022). E-Justice: A review and agenda for future
research. In Scientific Foundations of Digital Governance and Transformation (pp. 385–
414). Yusuf, N. A. S. (2023). Implementation of the e-litigation system in civil cases in the COVID-
19 pandemic situation. Disruption Law Review, 1(1), 64–77. Zulkarnain, P., & Zarzani, T. R. (2024, July). Legal challenges in electronic transactions and ecommerce. In Law Sinergy Conference (1(1), pp. 247–254).
interoperability of heterogenous digital evidence. In International Conference on
Ubiquitous Security (pp. 420–435). Springer Nature Singapore. Borgstede, M., & Scholz, M. (2021). Quantitative and qualitative approaches to generalization
and replication–A representationalist View. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 605191. Cabral, L., et al. (2021). The EU Digital Markets Act: A report from a panel of economic
experts. Publications Office of the European Union. D’Anna, T., et al. (2023, February). The chain of custody in the era of modern forensics: From
the classic procedures for gathering evidence to the new challenges related to digital
data. Healthcare, 11(5), 634. Davidson, C. M. (2022). To my children in equal shares: The flaw of estate planning when
property is devised to beneficiaries as tenants in common. ACTEC Law Journal, 47(23), 3.
Dmitrieva, A. A., & Pastukhov, P. S. (2023). Concept of electronic evidence in criminal legal
procedure. Journal of Digital Technologies and Law, 1(1). Djuraev, I., et al. (2025). The impact of digitization on legal systems in developing
countries. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(1), 81–117. Grobman, K. (2025). Heirs' property disputes: Evaluating ADR forums to change the status
quo. Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, 25(1), 48–73. Hamzani, A. I., Widyastuti, T. V., Khasanah, N., & Rusli, M. H. M. (2023). Legal research
method: Theoretical and implementative review. International Journal of Membrane
Science and Technology, 10(2), 3610–3619. Karjoko, L., Jaelani, A. K., Tegnan, H., Glaser, H., & Hayat, M. J. (2021). Islamic court ’ s
approach to land dispute in inheritance cases. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 21(2). Karunarathna, I., Gunasena, P., Hapuarachchi, T., & Gunathilake, S. (2024). The crucial role of
data collection in research: Techniques, challenges, and best practices. Uva Clinical
Research, 1–24. Komalasari, R., & Mustafa, C. (2023). Electronic evidence in the healthy justice
system: Reimagined. Jurnal Hukum dan Peradilan, 12(3), 547–580. Latifiani, D., Baidhowi, B., Herlambang, P. H., Winarno, F. R., & Habiburrahman, A. (2024). Can
advocates ’ legal culture in civil law enforcement drive reform in Indonesia ’ s modern
justice system? Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 5(3). Lescrauwaet, L., Wagner, H., Yoon, C., & Shukla, S. (2022). Adaptive legal frameworks and
economic dynamics in emerging technologies: Navigating the intersection for responsible
innovation. Law and Economics, 16(3), 202–220. Lim, W. M. (2025). What is qualitative research? An overview and guidelines. Australasian
Marketing Journal, 33(2),199–229. Loffi, L., Camillo, G. L., De Souza, C. A., Westphall, C. M., &
Westphall, C. B. (2025). Management of the chain of custody of digital evidence using
blockchain and self-sovereign identities: A systematic literature review. IEEE Access. Ma, L., et al. (2021, July). Legal judgment prediction with multi-stage case representation
learning in the real court setting. In Proceedings of the 44th International ACM SIGIR
Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (pp. 993–1002). Majdoub, I., & Atmani, K. (2025). Privacy paradigm shift: Zero knowledge proofs in criminal eevidence collection. In Cybercrime Unveiled: Technologies for Analysing Legal
Complexity (pp. 151–175). Springer Nature Switzerland. Morgan, J. (2023). Wrongful convictions and claims of false or misleading forensic
evidence. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 68(3), 908–961. Moussa, A. F. (2021). Electronic evidence and its authenticity in forensic evidence. Egyptian
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 11(1), 20.
Nath, S., Summers, K., Baek, J., & Ahn, G. J. (2024, October). Digital evidence chain of
custody: Navigating new realities of digital forensics. In 2024 IEEE 6th International
Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Intelligent Systems, and Applications (TPSISA) (pp. 11–20). IEEE. Pitaloka, D. (2025). E-court: A digital disruption in law enforcement and its impact on judicial
efficiency in Indonesia. Ex Aequo Et Bono Journal of Law, 2(2), 82–95. Peterson, D., Bedner, A., & Berenschot, W. (2025). The perils of legal formalism: Litigating
land conflicts in Indonesia.Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1–22. Pyo, J., Lee, W., Choi, E. Y., Jang, S. G., & Ock, M. (2023). Qualitative research in
healthcare: Necessity and characteristics. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public
Health, 56(1), 12. Rana, A. A., et al. (2022). Admissibility and evidentiary value of electronic evidence in criminal
cases: A case study of Pakistan. JL & Soc. Pol'y, 27. Republik Indonesia. Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi
Elektronik. (2008). Rozenshtein, A. Z. (2021). Silicon Valley's speech: Technology giants and the deregulatory
First Amendment. J. Free Speech L., 1, 337. Sari, F. R. (2024). Alat bukti elektronik pada praktik beracara di Pengadilan Agama Lumajang
(Studi Putusan Nomor 852/Pdt.G/2023/PA.Lmj) [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Maulana
Malik Ibrahim Malang]. Setyowati, N., Suwadi, P., & Muryanto, Y. T. (2024). Electronic court in
Indonesia. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Law, Economic & Good
Governance (pp. 174–178). Siddiqi, M., & Ilyas, I. (2025). The implementation of electronic evidence presentation in civil
proceedings. Grimsa Social Sciences, 1(1), 10–15. Subekti, R., & Tjitrosudibuio, R. (2009). Kitab Undang – Undang Hukum Perdata. Pradya
Paramita. Ulbricht, B. R., Moxley, C., Austin, M. D., & Norburg, M. D. (2022). Digital eyewitnesses: Using
new technologies to authenticate evidence in human rights litigation. Stanford Law
Review, 74, 851. Yavuz, N., Karkin, N., & Yildiz, M. (2022). E-Justice: A review and agenda for future
research. In Scientific Foundations of Digital Governance and Transformation (pp. 385–
414). Yusuf, N. A. S. (2023). Implementation of the e-litigation system in civil cases in the COVID-
19 pandemic situation. Disruption Law Review, 1(1), 64–77. Zulkarnain, P., & Zarzani, T. R. (2024, July). Legal challenges in electronic transactions and ecommerce. In Law Sinergy Conference (1(1), pp. 247–254).