The article presents the issues of the use of aerial photographs in court proceedings relating to the ownership of the land. The main types of proceedings in which materials can be used in remote sensing are presented and these are: cases regarding acquisitive prescription, cases regarding demarcation, cases regarding acquiring easement by acquisitive prescription, cases regarding expiration of easement. Article also presents the methodology of drawing up an opinion concerning aerial photographs for court proceedings. Political and economic changes that took place in Poland after 1989 contributed to the increased availability of documents previously treated as confidential. In particular, this concerned cartographic materials and aerial photographs. These changes were a result of rapid development of computer technologies supporting the processing and sharing of information. Both of these tendencies are also promoted by the integration with EU structures, particularly the ratification of the INSPIRE Directive in 2007 which aims to establish a legal framework for the creation of spatial infrastructure in Europe. It will allow institutions, including courts, to use remote-sensing sources, especially aerial photographs, more often. However, broader use of remote-sensing and cartographic sources in courts requires calling expert witnesses, who thanks to their expertise in the field of aerial photographs interpretation, help to obtain information of the degree of reliability relevant to the case. Therefore, experts assist the court but present their own opinion on the issue in question.
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