Documentary Evidence

Vitor de Paula Ramos holds a PhD in Law, Economy, and Business from the University of Girona, Spain, and a PhD in Law with an emphasis in Civil Procedure from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. His post-doctoral research was conducted at Northwestern University, USA, and the University of Brescia, Italy. He is a Brazilian qualified lawyer, consultant, and scholar, specializing in Civil Procedure, Evidence and Evidential Reasoning. He has extensive experience as a lawyer in Brazil and is currently a Professor of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil, and a Professor in the Master in Evidential Reasoning program at the University of Girona, Spain. His research interests include proof, evidence (mainly witness testimony, documentary evidence and expert testimony), civil procedure, and the intersection of law and epistemology. Vitor has also authored numerous books and articles in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, focusing on civil procedure, evidence and proof, evidential reasoning, and legal epistemology. He is a founding member and the first President of the Brazilian Institute of Law and Evidential Reasoning (IBDRP) and a member of several prestigious legal associations, including the International Association of Procedural Law (IAPL) and the Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law (IIDP). He also serves on the advisory board of the International Journal on Evidential Legal Reasoning, Quaestio Facti.

1. Introduction.- 2. The State Of The Art: Traditional Doctrine And Case Law On Documentary Evidence .- 3. Foundations For Critique.- 4. From The Document To Documents: Toward A Reconstruction Of How The Law Handles Documentary Evidence.- 5. Conclusions And Recommendations.