The Irish Law Reform Commission has just issued a consultation paper on Documentary and Electronic Evidence. At 313 pages, it is not going to be a quick read and I have done no more than skim it so far.

Its ambit is extremely wide, embracing civil and criminal proceedings, the definition of a document, the rules of evidence, public records, business books and documents, admissibility and authentication. It sweeps up on the way subjects like retention of documents and anticipated legal proceedings, money-laundering, e-signatures and cross-jurisdictional issues, and does so by reference to a variety of foreign laws, rules and practices as well as the existing domestic framework.

It looks learned and authoritative without being dull, and I will go through it in due course. You may like to see it now. I have a feeling that Ireland will be faster off the mark than Scotland (see Scottish Civil Costs Review – a missed opportunity) in embracing electronic disclosure in civil proceedings. If so, I would be keen to be involved.

Thanks to @richards1000 and IntegreonEDD whose Tweets tipped me off about this.

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