Evaluation of Evidence in Dark Web Drug Cases: The Approach of the Finnish Supreme Court
Citation: , Evaluation of Evidence in Dark Web Drug Cases: The Approach of the Finnish Supreme Court, in: Jusletter IT 30 September 2020
The dark web has become a popular platform for the sale of illegal drugs. Individual cases regularly come to the attention of the criminal justice system when envelopes and parcels containing drugs are intercepted in customs inspections. In such a situation, the main evidence against the alleged buyer consists of the addressee information on the mail item. The addressee may claim to be unaware of someone ordering drugs using their name and address, and evidence relating to the activity on the dark web itself is typically lacking. The Supreme Court of Finland has recently decided two such cases with different outcomes. In this paper, the approach of the Supreme Court is analyzed in an effort to clarify the decisive factors in such cases and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Facts of the Cases
3. Reasoning of the Supreme Court
3.1. Addressee Information
3.2. Credibility of the Defendants’ Testimonies
3.3. Virtual Currencies
3.4. Involvement with Illegal Drugs
3.5. Alternative Hypotheses and Conclusions of the Supreme Court
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