A Decision-Making Framework for Digital Evidence Governance (Probative Rationality, Technology, and Criminal Policy in Latin America)

Abstract

The expansion of digital technologies in criminal investigations has reshaped evidentiary practices and institutional decision-making in Latin America. Although digital evidence is often treated as neutral and inherently reliable, its evaluation involves technical opacity, epistemic asymmetries, and discretionary institutional decisions that could directly affect due process guarantees and, with them, human rights. This paper proposes a decision-making framework for the governance of evidence in general and digital evidence in particular, grounded in probative rationality and criminal policy analysis. Based on a qualitative examination of the practices of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Northern Patagonia (Argentina), the study identifies structural risks associated with the uncritical use of technological evidence, including automation bias and early-stage over-criminalization. The proposed framework integrates normative, technical, and institutional dimensions to guide decision-making in preliminary phases of criminal investigations, offering a model transferable to Latin American justice systems.