This checklist is a practical aid for legal practitioners and professional organisations. Adapt it to the matter and the applicable instructions. It is not a completed instruction or a finding about any evidence.
Define the issue
- Record the exact conclusion being advanced and the source page or item relied upon.
- Separate what was observed, how it was processed and what was inferred.
- Identify whether the dispute concerns occurrence, timing, attribution, knowledge, provenance or acquisition.
- Note what decision the review must inform and when.
Check coverage and reasoning
- Identify the acquisition type, sources covered, relevant period and recorded limitations.
- Check whether the supplied document is an automated export, factual examination record or expert opinion.
- Identify assumptions about timestamps, accounts, devices and human action.
- Consider whether alternative explanations have been addressed and what would distinguish them.
Decide the next useful step
- List missing source material or explanations; distinguish unavailable data from negative findings.
- Ask which further examination could materially change the answer.
- Consider a bounded preliminary review before a larger examination.
- Use the instruction guide to agree scope and secure transfer rather than sending case material through the public form.
Further guidance
Read How to instruct a digital forensic expert, Fees & engagement and the forensic questions hub. Contact the laboratory with a concise, non-sensitive enquiry.