These guidelines aim to assist civil society organisations to collect and preserve information related to international crimes and human rights violations, which may become admissible evidence in court. A series of proposed ‘do’s and don’ts’ are provided, on what may be helpful and what could potentially harm criminal accountability efforts. These guidelines respond to a request from multiple civil society organisations and stakeholders in the accountability field who have indicated a need for guidance to ensure that the information they collect can potentially be used as evidence in future prosecutions at the national or international level. The guidelines are intended to be a dynamic document that will be updated to reflect the experience of civil society organisations and in close consultation with them.

This publication has been jointly developed by Eurojust, the EU Network for investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (‘Genocide Network’), and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

The guidelines are available from the drop-down menu below in English, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, and Arabic.