This important book, the fifth in the Civil Procedure in Europe series, provides a comparative overview, of 13 EU countries and Switzerland, on the law of evidence. Each country s practice in this area is described and analysed by a national expert distinguished in the field of civil procedural law. The contributions are written in either English, French or German, and are followed by summaries in both remaining languages. Bibliographies are included to enable the reader to locate material for further study. Each national report addresses, among other things, the following issues: the sources of law and general principles of the law of evidence the means of evidence the role of the judge and the parties in the evidence procedure the evaluation of evidence the production of evidence the registration of produced evidence the possibilities to admit new evidence or to renew evidence in appeal proceedings A comparative contribution by the editor, Professor Jos Lebre de Freitas, analyses the similarities and differences between the various European systems. Furthermore, the editor discusses attempts to harmonise the law of evidence in Europe and provides concrete suggestions for a future harmonisation or unification of this area of law. The countries covered are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The Civil Procedure in Europe series is edited by Professor M. Storme of the University of Ghent, Dr. P.A.M. Meijknecht, legal adviser at the Dutch Ministry of Justice, temporarily detached to the Codification Commission of Civil Law at the Polish Ministry of Justice, Warsaw, Professor C.H. van Rhee of the University of Maastricht and Dr. L.M. Coenraad of the University of Utrecht (Molengraaff Institute for European Private Law). The previous volumes in this series are Seizure and overindebtedness in the European Union, Recourse against judgments in the European Union, Recogniti