This book offers a groundbreaking perspective on the use of documentary evidence in legal proceedings.
In its first part, the book presents a critical overview of the current state of legal scholarship and jurisprudence concerning documentary evidence. It argues that, particularly in civil law jurisdictions, the law often rests on two flawed assumptions: that documents are sensory equivalents and that they are objective, with self-evident meaning that requires no interpretation or intersubjective validation. The result, in the author's view, is a legal culture that treats documentary evidence as a kind of objective "gold standard," obscuring the subjectivity and interpretive work that actually goes into creating and evaluating such evidence.
The second part draws on general epistemology and semiotics to challenge these assumptions. It explores the role of context, the differences between human testimony and machine-generated evidence, and the need for comprehensive evidentiary sets. Through a semiotic lens, it examines various types of signs and the processes of representation and interpretation that underlie each type of documentary evidence.
Building on these theoretical foundations, the third part proposes a new framework for understanding documentary evidence. It emphasizes the need for understanding the “physiological” functioning of each type of document and considers factors such as the nature of the sign, potential pathological or physiological alterations, and whether the source is human or mechanical.
Finally, offers both theoretical insights and practical recommendations for all actors involved in the admission, production, and evaluation of documentary evidence—judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and others—providing tools for a more critical, contextual, and accurate approach to legal proof.

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.