Digital forensics is the process of examining digital evidence, which involves the extraction of information from diverse digital systems and data storage media, rendering information into a usable form, then processing and interpreting the information to obtain intelligence for investigations, or evidence for court proceedings. The rapid and sustained growth in using digital devices has resulted in many crimes now being reported where digital evidence is essential to the investigation.

However, there are no established measures of the growth in digital evidence in criminal investigations. Some research has examined the presence of digital evidence in one-off, crime-type-specific studies. But very few studies have sought to examine the change in the presence of digital evidence over time, particularly since the advent of the smartphone. This study seeks to help address this gap.

The current study seeks to estimate national level changes in the extent to which police investigations use digital evidence, over time, through the analysis of criminal appeal judgements.