doctrinal interpretation
institutional application
legal admissibility
cross-jurisdictional alignment
academic research consistency
standards-body translation
Foundational Evidentiary Concepts
Integrity & Sovereignty Terminology
Continuity & Admissibility Constructs
Governance & Custodial Terms
Primary Evidence: Created at the moment of occurrence by the system or entity witnessing, measuring, or recording the event.
Secondary Evidence: Derived after the moment of occurrence, including exports, reports, summaries, or human-interpreted narratives.
Tamper-Detectability: Modifications are provably evident, regardless of whether prevention succeeded.
Tamper-Resistance: Modifications are difficult or costly, but may not be provably detectable.
The doctrine prioritizes detectability over prevention.
who or what created it
when
where
under what conditions
under what identity or authority
proprietary software
privileged insight
unpublished algorithms
unverifiable external attestations
legal disputes
arbitration
audit
regulatory enforcement
insurance adjudication
historical record preservation
Original textual intent supersedes derivative interpretation
Legal convenience does not supersede evidentiary truth
Vendor definitions are non-authoritative
Absence of evidence is not evidence unless continuity was provably maintained
Future technological capability does not retroactively validate prior evidence gaps