The Exploration of the Judge's Evaluation of Evidence through Inner Conviction on Whether Internet Messages Can be Evidence for Adultery in the Criminal Law---An Explication by Legal Positivism and Philosophical Theory

Due to the rapid development of the internet, cyber crime has become a big issue in the information society. Among others, adultery via internet is one of the serious issues.　Adultery in Taiwan’s Criminal Law means sexual intercourse between a married person and one who is not his or her spouse. The couple in question cannot be accused of adultery if no substantial evidence of sexual intercourse is found, even though we have at hand their internet messages involving obscene words that indicate the adulterous relationship. Recently in Taiwan, there have been cases in which the offense of adultery is established by internet and MSN messages, which is a breakthrough in Taiwan’s legal practice. But the question is: Can internet messages count as any substantial evidence in current legal principle and practice? Criticisms have come in like floods, for there is no answer in the precedents.　This paper is subsequent to the one presented by the first author in the e-Society conference in August, 2007. Adopting the latest legal empirical study in Taiwan and supported interdisciplinarily by the argumentation of analytic philosophy, this