How do I file an evidence preservation petition before a lawsuit?

If you are preparing a consolation money claim against the spouse's affair partner based on your spouse's infidelity, securing important evidence in advance is very important.

In particular, for materials that may be deleted over time or are difficult for outsiders to obtain, such as hotel CCTV footage, you can attempt to secure the footage through an evidence preservation petition with the court.

An evidence preservation petition is a system for requesting evidence preservation from the court before filing a lawsuit or during a lawsuit, when there is a risk that evidence may be damaged or lost.

Since CCTV footage is often retained for a short period and hotels usually do not voluntarily provide footage due to personal information protection reasons, prompt application is necessary.

To apply, an evidence preservation petition must be submitted to the court of jurisdiction, and the petition must include the following.

▶ Specific description of the evidence to be secured
▶ Explanation of why securing it before the lawsuit is necessary
▶ Explanation of how it relates to the future lawsuit

The court reviews the petition and decides whether to grant it after comprehensively considering the necessity, relevance, possibility of deletion, and personal information infringement concerns of the footage.

If granted, the court orders the hotel to conduct evidence investigation and may order necessary procedures such as viewing or copying the footage.

However, an evidence preservation petition is not necessarily granted, and the relevance, specificity, and necessity of preservation of the footage must be sufficiently substantiated.

Recently, there have been quite a few cases where hotel CCTV footage was secured through evidence preservation petitions and infidelity was proven, so active response is needed.