A WhatsApp exhibit with a Statement of Truth
In England & Wales you authenticate a chat by exhibiting it in a witness statement verified by a Statement of Truth. Get the exhibit, the statement, and a SHA-256 hash in one PDF.
CPR Part 22/32 · SHA-256 hash · one-time, no subscription
The problem
A screenshot isn't evidence
A screenshot pasted into a bundle isn't evidence until someone exhibits it in a witness statement and verifies it with a Statement of Truth (CPR PD 32). A false statement of truth is a contempt of court - so the wording has to be right.
wachattopdf.com produces the witness statement under Civil Procedure Rules Part 22 and Practice Direction 32 (England & Wales), pre-filled with a SHA-256 hash of your export and the record's particulars - so the chat arrives court-ready.
Disclosure of WhatsApp messages in England & Wales - two regimes, one preservation duty
England & Wales runs two parallel disclosure regimes, and which one applies to your case changes what you must do with your WhatsApp history. In most County Court and other multi-track civil claims, CPR Part 31 and Practice Direction 31B (Disclosure of Electronic Documents) govern - PD 31B expressly treats electronic documents and their metadata as disclosable, and the Electronic Documents Questionnaire (Form N264) asks parties to describe where that data lives and how it will be searched. In the Business and Property Courts, PD 31B does not apply: Practice Direction 57AD has governed disclosure there since it became permanent on 1 October 2022, and its definition of "document" expressly captures electronic communications and their metadata - so a WhatsApp thread is a disclosable document under either regime.
PD 57AD also imposes an explicit preservation duty with real teeth for WhatsApp users. Once you know you are, or may become, a party to proceedings, you must take reasonable steps to preserve relevant documents in your control - including suspending automatic-deletion processes. In practice that means switching off WhatsApp's disappearing-messages setting for relevant chats as soon as litigation is in contemplation. Deleting messages after that point - or letting an auto-delete timer keep running - risks adverse inferences and sanctions.
Do not assume a personal phone is out of reach. In Phones 4U Ltd v EE Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 116, the Court of Appeal upheld an order requiring defendant companies to ask employees and former employees to hand over their personal phones so independent IT consultants could search them for work-related messages, including WhatsApp - because those messages were within the companies' "control" for disclosure purposes. If the messages matter to the dispute, English courts have shown they will get to them. Exporting the thread to a fixed, hashed PDF early puts you ahead of that process rather than scrambling to respond to it.
The CPR 32.19 authenticity trap - deemed admission, notice to prove, and where the hash earns its keep
England & Wales has no equivalent of the US self-authentication rules for electronic records - there is no statutory shortcut that makes a hashed export automatically authentic. Instead, CPR 32.19 works by default and challenge: a party is deemed to admit the authenticity of a document disclosed to it under Part 31 unless it serves a notice requiring the document to be proved at trial. Under r.32.19(2) that notice must be served by the latest date for serving witness statements or within 7 days of disclosure of the document, whichever is later. Miss the deadline, and authenticity is off the table; serve it, and the burden of proving the chat is genuine lands on the party relying on it.
That is exactly the moment an unhashed screenshot is at its weakest. A cropped image with no metadata, no export record, and no integrity check invites a notice to prove - and gives you little to answer it with. A complete chat export with a SHA-256 hash recorded at the time of capture does not make the document self-proving, but it gives the witness something concrete to say: this is the file that was exported, it has not been altered since, and anyone can verify that by re-computing the hash. Authenticity in English civil proceedings is ultimately a question of evidence and weight for the tribunal - the hash is supporting integrity evidence, and honest tools should describe it that way.
If your case is in the Business and Property Courts, one further formality applies: under PD 57AC (in force since 6 April 2021), a trial witness statement must identify the documents the witness referred to and carry a signed certificate of compliance. A chat export exhibited to such a statement should therefore be a document the witness can genuinely speak to - another reason to capture the full thread once, in a fixed form, rather than assembling screenshots later.
Why a PDF copy of a chat is admissible at all - the end of the best evidence rule
A common worry is that a PDF is "only a copy" of the real conversation on the phone. English law answered that decades ago. In Masquerade Music Ltd v Springsteen (Court of Appeal, 2001), the court confirmed that the old best evidence rule has expired: secondary evidence and copies are admissible, and any shortcomings in how a copy was made go to the weight the court gives it, not to whether it can be looked at. The Civil Evidence Act 1995 says the same in statute - section 8 provides that a statement in a document may be proved by producing the document or a copy, at any number of removes, authenticated in such manner as the court approves, and section 1 abolished the rule against hearsay in civil proceedings (with a hearsay notice under CPR 33.2 where applicable).
So the real fight over a WhatsApp export in an English court is almost never "is this admissible?" - it is "how much weight does it carry?". Weight turns on completeness, context, and integrity: a full thread beats selective screenshots, visible sender and timestamp data beats cropped fragments, and an export whose SHA-256 hash was recorded at capture beats a file no one can vouch for. Even on the criminal side the direction of travel is the same - the old section 69 PACE 1984 requirement to prove a computer was operating properly was repealed in 1999, and courts now presume devices worked correctly absent evidence to the contrary.
One honest caveat: everything above describes England & Wales. The Civil Procedure Rules do not apply in Scotland, where affidavits are sworn before a notary public or commissioner and documentary evidence in civil cases is governed by the Civil Evidence (Scotland) Act 1988, or in Northern Ireland, which has its own Rules of the Court of Judicature and the Civil Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. Our UK certificate is drafted for England & Wales procedure - if your case is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, have a local solicitor adapt the supporting document to the correct format.
How it works
Chat in, certified PDF out
Export & upload
In WhatsApp: open the chat → Export Chat → drop the ZIP into wachattopdf.com. Messages, media and voice notes are parsed exactly as sent.
Pick your country
Tick “Court Certificate” and choose your jurisdiction. Optionally add the declarant name and device so the certificate is pre-filled.
Download the PDF
You get a court-ready PDF with the certificate attached and a SHA-256 hash printed on it - ready to complete, sign and file.
One-time · no subscription
- task_altCPR Part 22/32 witness statement attached to the PDF
- task_altSHA-256 hash printed on the certificate
- task_altCourt-ready WhatsApp PDF with Bates numbering
- task_altPII redaction, voice-note transcription & AI-ready JSON included
A fraction of what a lawyer charges to draft one.
FAQ
United Kingdom - answered
How do I put a WhatsApp chat before an English court?expand_more
You exhibit the chat in a witness statement (CPR Part 32 / PD 32) and verify the statement with a Statement of Truth. Our document produces the witness statement, the exhibit reference, the Statement of Truth in the current PD 22 wording, and a SHA-256 hash of the exhibit.
What is the correct Statement of Truth wording?expand_more
Since 6 April 2020 it reads: “I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.” Our template uses exactly this.
Do I still need a solicitor?expand_more
The document is court-formatted and ready to complete and sign, but it's a self-service template, not legal advice. Have your solicitor review it and adapt it to your matter before filing.
I have disappearing messages switched on - does that matter for a court case?expand_more
Yes, potentially a great deal. Under PD 57AD, once you know you are or may become a party to proceedings you must take reasonable steps to preserve relevant documents - which includes suspending automatic-deletion processes. Turn off disappearing messages for relevant chats as soon as a dispute is in prospect, and export the thread to a fixed PDF. Messages that auto-delete after that point could lead to adverse inferences or sanctions.
What happens if the other side challenges whether my WhatsApp export is genuine?expand_more
Under CPR 32.19 they must serve a notice requiring you to prove the document at trial - by the latest date for witness statements or within 7 days of disclosure, whichever is later. If they do not, they are deemed to admit its authenticity. If they do, you bear the burden of proving the chat is genuine, which is where a complete export with a SHA-256 hash recorded at capture is far stronger than a screenshot - the witness can explain the export process and anyone can re-verify the hash. The hash is supporting integrity evidence, not automatic proof.
Does this certificate work in Scotland or Northern Ireland?expand_more
The document is built around England & Wales civil procedure - the Civil Procedure Rules and their practice directions do not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Scotland uses affidavits sworn before a notary public or commissioner, with civil documentary evidence governed by the Civil Evidence (Scotland) Act 1988; Northern Ireland has its own Rules of the Court of Judicature and the Civil Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The PDF export and hash are still useful anywhere, but have a local solicitor adapt the supporting statement to the correct format.
Not legal advice. This tool generates a witness statement in the format contemplated by Civil Procedure Rules Part 22 and Practice Direction 32 (England & Wales). It is a self-service template; have a qualified lawyer review, complete and - where required - attest it before filing.
Other countries
Make your WhatsApp chat court-ready in United Kingdom
Upload the export, pick United Kingdom, and download a signed-and-ready witness statement with a SHA-256 hash.
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