Emojis could be used as evidence in court under a new law set to be passed.

The legislation will update the law to take account of the likes of social media and text messaging on phones and whether it can be used as evidence in court.

During debate on the Criminal Evidence Bill this week, Dr Alex Allinson (Ramsey) the MHK responsible for guiding it through the House of Keys, confirmed that statements on social media could be used in evidence ’if necessary’.

He said: ’If a person is accused of making a threat or the intention is to cause someone to believe they are going to being threatened then an inappropriate emoji could be constituted as such a statement.’

Dr Allinson gave the example when asked to clarify that messages on phones or social media person could be admitted as evidence - having previously been ruled out as hearsay.

It will mean text messages or material sent by someone or extracted from social media can be used as evidence, as long as it can be demonstrated as representative of a fact or opinion made by a person by ’whatever means’.

He said the law would also cover sketches, photofit images or anything in the pictorial form.

The new rules, which mirror UK legislation brought in 15 years ago, come via an updating of what constitutes ’hearsay’.

In the past such things as text messages and social media comment have been classed as ’hearsay’ and therefore inadmissible in court.

The new rules are contained within the Criminal Evidence Bill, which passed its clauses stage - when its provisions are subject to detailed scrutiny - in the House of Keys on Tuesday.

The bill was brought forward as a matter of urgency after a defence team in a drugs trial taking place in a Manx court argued that a text message was ’hearsay’ and therefore inadmissible.

Attorney General John Quinn has warned that unless the island’s law is updated it could have a disastrous impact in the war on drugs, leading to the island becoming a ’haven for drug dealers’.

During Tuesday’s debate, Dr Allinson, who is a member of the Department of Home Affairs, gave assurances there were still safeguards in place designed to ensure that any such evidence was appropriate to be heard in court

The bill now requires a third reading before it can be sent for royal assent. Unusually for a new law, it has already been debated in the Legislative Council, where it was first introduced for consideration last month.