EU legal representative for e-Evidence orders
LexGate BV helps service providers arrange EU legal representation and prepare for European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders. Based in Amsterdam, we also support companies with an existing EU designated establishment.
Secure connection via the LexGate e-Evidence platform. API testing is in progress.
What the ten-day clock actually counts from
The production deadline runs from receipt by the appointed addressee. Read about the receipt time, the eight-hour emergency deadline and the procedure for requesting clarification.
Read the post →Who needs an EU legal representative for e-Evidence?
A company with no EU establishment must appoint a legal representative if it provides a covered service in the Union. The service category and the company's connection to the EU decide whether it is in scope.
Communications services
Internet access, telecoms, messaging, VoIP and email services.
Domain name and IP numbering services
Domain registries, registrars and IP address services, including domain-related privacy and proxy services.
Other qualifying online services
Services that let users communicate, or store data for them, such as cloud hosting, marketplaces and online gaming. Financial services are excluded.
Your connection to the EU
An EU establishment, a significant number of EU users, or activities directed towards Member States. Accessibility of a website in the EU alone is not enough.
Not sure? We can review your services and EU activity with you. Request an e-Evidence scope assessment
LexGate e-Evidence services
EU legal representation for non-EU service providers
LexGate acts as the addressee for orders covered by your mandate. Before accepting an appointment, we agree its scope, the Member State, accepted languages, the notification process and how orders are received. Representation begins on the agreed effective date under a signed mandate.
e-Evidence readiness assessment
We help you assess which entities and services are covered, identify your addressee and prepare the response procedures: who reviews requests, who can retrieve data and how urgent cases reach the people authorised to act.
e-Evidence platform for an existing addressee
The LexGate e-Evidence platform supports the response process of service providers and their addressees, with secure connectivity as part of the service. API testing is in progress. Your existing addressee keeps its statutory role.
Evidence Registrar
For representatives and designated establishments: record orders and evidence handovers. In development, with limited early access. It does not connect to the EU decentralised IT system or appoint LexGate as your representative.
How an e-Evidence order is handled
Receipt starts the production deadline, and the requested data must be preserved promptly. Your response procedure needs to work from that point.
Receive
Record receipt, check the certificate and start preservation.
Assess
Apply the deadline and check whether the enforcing authority must be notified.
Review
Your authorised team approves, or raises defects and legal concerns.
Transmit
Send the data through the permitted channel and keep the case record.
Authority — Judge issues a production order
An issuing authority signs a European Production Order Certificate (EPOC) requesting subscriber, traffic or content data, and addresses it — as Article 7 requires — to your appointed legal representative. The deadline to produce is ten days from receipt.
EPOC · Form 1Read all scenarios
European Production Orders: the EPOC procedure
EPOC · Annex I · Regulation (EU) 2023/1543, Articles 9 and 10
- The addressee records when the EPOC arrives and promptly preserves the requested data.
- The certificate is checked, including whether the enforcing authority must be notified.
- Without notification, the data must be transmitted within ten days of receipt; with notification, Article 10(2) controls the timing of release.
- The data are transmitted to the authority identified in the EPOC, subject to any legal objection or refusal procedure.
Keep the certificate, receipt time, reviewers, approval and delivery confirmation in the case record.
Emergency production orders: the eight-hour deadline
Articles 3(18) and 10(4)
An emergency is an imminent threat to a person's life, physical integrity or safety, or to critical infrastructure. The data must be transmitted without undue delay and within eight hours of receipt. Where the enforcing authority is notified, it has up to 96 hours to object or impose conditions; that does not extend the eight-hour deadline. Your procedure must reach the people authorised to act outside office hours.
European Preservation Orders: the EPOC-PR procedure
EPOC-PR · Annex II · Article 11
- Preserve the requested data without undue delay on receipt.
- The duty normally ends after 60 days; the issuing authority may extend it by 30 days (Annex VI).
- If the authority confirms a subsequent production request (Annex V), preserve the data until it is produced.
- The duty ends when the authority says preservation is no longer necessary.
Closing a preservation hold is separate from deleting the records. Check the retention policy and any other legal hold first.
Non-execution: Annex III (Form 3)
Article 10(6) to (9)
- Incomplete or defective certificate: notify the issuing authority without undue delay, seek clarification and preserve the data where possible.
- Factual impossibility: if the issuing authority accepts it, the EPOC no longer needs to be executed.
- Other failures to produce data: notify within the production deadline; the authority may set a new deadline.
Keep the notification and the authority's response with the order. Filing Form 3 is not a general exemption from compliance.
Appointing your EU legal representative
We agree the work before taking responsibility for it.
Scope
Your services, legal entities and EU activity, and whether a representative or designated establishment fits.
Mandate
Jurisdiction, accepted languages, fees and allocation of responsibilities, in writing.
Notification
The notification route and receipt arrangements, checked against current national requirements.
Test
Your contacts and escalation procedure, and a test of the response process before the service starts.
Secure e-Evidence connectivity
LexGate offers a secure connection for its e-Evidence platform. We are currently testing the API integration and confirm the connection arrangements for each deployment during onboarding. The EU decentralised IT system uses e-CODEX; ETSI TS 104 144 defines the interface between the WISP and a service provider's own IT solution.
EU e-Evidence FAQs
What is the deadline to appoint an e-Evidence representative?
18 August 2026 for providers already offering services in the EU on 18 February 2026. Providers that started later have six months from their start date (Directive (EU) 2023/1544, Article 3(6)).
Can we register an appointment in the Netherlands now?
Not yet. As checked on 18 October 2026, ACM expects registration to become available in early 2027. We check the current national position before agreeing an appointment or notification timetable.
We have an EU subsidiary. Can it be our addressee?
It may qualify as a designated establishment if it has legal personality and meets the establishment and participation conditions (Directive, Articles 2 and 3). We assess the entity and can support its response process with our platform.
What is the deadline for a European Production Order?
Ten days from receipt of the EPOC, subject to the notification procedure, and eight hours in an emergency. Preservation must begin promptly on receipt (Regulation (EU) 2023/1543, Article 10).
Does our GDPR or DSA representative cover e-Evidence?
Not automatically. A GDPR Article 27 or DSA Article 13 appointment is a different legal role. Check the written mandate before relying on an existing representative.
What if we cannot comply with an order?
Notify the issuing authority using Annex III (Form 3). The procedure depends on the reason: a defective certificate, factual impossibility or another failure to produce data. Filing the form does not automatically close the order. See the Form 3 scenario.
Who carries the liability?
The provider and its designated establishment or representative can be held jointly and severally liable, except for acts or omissions constituting a criminal offence (Directive, Article 3(5)). The mandate sets out responsibilities and escalation.
Who decides which data are disclosed?
Your authorised staff, under a review and approval process agreed before the service starts. That process must give the addressee the powers and resources to comply with lawful orders and deadlines.
Is the API integration ready for production use?
The LexGate e-Evidence API integration is in testing. We confirm production availability and the connection arrangements for your deployment during onboarding.
How much does EU e-Evidence representation cost?
We confirm the scope and fees in a written proposal before you commit. Tell us which services you provide, where you operate and whether you already have an addressee.
What is the EU e-Evidence Regulation?
Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 creates European Production Orders and European Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal proceedings. Its main provisions have applied since 18 August 2026.
In which Member State should we appoint a representative?
One where you offer services, and where the addressee is established or resident and subject to enforcement (Directive, Article 3(2)). Participation in the relevant instruments also affects the choice.
What are the penalties for e-Evidence non-compliance?
Member States set penalties for breaching the appointment and notification duties. For specified order-handling infringements, fines can reach 2% of total worldwide annual turnover (Regulation, Article 15).
Does the appointment cover more than EPOCs?
Yes. It also covers electronic-evidence orders under Directive 2014/41/EU, the EU Mutual Assistance Convention and relevant national law (Directive, Article 1(2)).
What if an order conflicts with the law of a third country?
Article 17 of the Regulation provides for a reasoned objection where compliance would conflict with applicable third-country law. Storing data in a third country is not enough on its own.
Must we build our own e-Evidence IT system?
Not necessarily. ETSI TS 104 144 defines the interface between the WISP and a service provider's own IT solution. Confirm what the national system supports before deciding what to build or buy.
Legal sources
The legislation and standards referred to on this page.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1543European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence
- Directive (EU) 2023/1544Designated establishments and legal representatives
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1550The decentralised IT system (e-CODEX)
- ETSI TS 104 144Interface between the WISP and a provider's IT solution
- GDPR, Article 27Representatives under data protection law
- DSA, Article 13Legal representatives under the Digital Services Act
- ACM (Netherlands)National registration status for e-Evidence
e-Evidence glossary · 15 terms
- Offering services in the Union
- Enabling people or companies in a Member State to use a covered service, with a substantial connection to that Member State (Regulation, Article 3(4)).
- Substantial connection
- An establishment in a Member State or, without one, a significant number of users in, or activities directed towards, one or more Member States.
- Central authority
- The authority designated under Article 6 of the Directive, which receives the notification under Article 4.
- EPOC
- European Production Order Certificate (Annex I), through which a European Production Order is transmitted.
- EPOC-PR
- European Preservation Order Certificate (Annex II), through which a European Preservation Order is transmitted.
- Issuing authority
- The competent authority that issues the order, with judicial validation where required.
- Enforcing authority
- The authority in the enforcing State that receives the relevant notifications and handles enforcement.
- Addressee
- The designated establishment or legal representative to which orders are ordinarily addressed.
- Legal representative
- A natural or legal person appointed in writing by a provider not established in a participating Member State.
- Designated establishment
- An establishment with legal personality, designated in writing by a provider established in a participating Member State.
- Electronic evidence
- Subscriber, traffic or content data stored by or for a service provider when an EPOC or EPOC-PR is received.
- Emergency case
- An imminent threat to a person's life, physical integrity or safety, or to critical infrastructure whose disruption would create such a threat.
- Decentralised IT system
- The system for electronic exchanges under the Regulation, using interoperable national systems and e-CODEX access points.
- WISP
- Web-based Interface for Service Providers: the component that gives service providers access to the decentralised IT system.
- ETSI TS 104 144
- The specification for e-Evidence exchange between the WISP and a service provider's own IT solution, built on ETSI TS 103 120.
About LexGate BV
E-evidence by LexGate is operated by LexGate BV in Amsterdam. We work on e-Evidence readiness, representation arrangements and secure platform support for service providers and their addressees.
- KVK number
- 42147145
- Registered address
- IJsbaanpad 2, 1076 CV Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Contact
- contact@euevidence.com
Request a scoping call
Tell us about your company and the service you need. We will discuss whether the rules apply and the next steps.
Or email contact@euevidence.com. Any representation begins under a separately agreed written mandate.