Is it illegal to record a telephone conversation for evidence in court in the uk?
In Common Law jurisdictions (e.g. UK, U.S., Australia, Canada, NZ) there are very strict rules regarding what can and can’t be submitted in evidence during a court case. Evidence obtained illegally is not admissible. Generally, a telephone conversation can only be recorded once you have informed those involved that it will, in fact, be recorded. This is why you will sometimes hear, upon calling a large company, a recorded message saying that “this call may be recorded for training purposes”– they have to tell you that you are being recorded. Certainly, in most situations, a court will not accept a recorded conversation where the other person was not informed that it would be recorded. There are exceptions; I’m not an expert on family law and there may be some minor allowances made for this sort of thing, but generally something of this nature would not be allowed.
