The basic logic of evidence examination in litigation in China is to determine the fact of a case by taking the examination of the authenticity, relevance and legality of evidence as the basis and the confirmation of "the basis for the final decision" as the support and making a judgment of the probative force of the evidence. Evidence examination in the common law system and in the civil law system presents two patterns of evidence qualification and evidence utility. Evidence law focuses on the regulation of "front-end evidence qualification", and the authenticity, relevance and legality of evidence are embedded in the examination system in a specific way. The current evidence review system in China is characterized by clear elements and flexible review methods, but its "flat" characteristic hinders the clear expansion of evidence review logic. The examination of the authenticity, relevance and legality of evidence has the problem of lacking a precise definition and necessary distinction, and its relationship with the competence and probative force of evidence is not clear. To reform and improve the method of evidence examination, firstly, it is necessary to clearly define the connotations of the authenticity, relevance and legality of evidence, clarify their relationships with other elements of evidence examination, and appropriately adjust the method of their use. Secondly, the concept of competence of evidence should be infused into judicial interpretation norms to strengthen norms on the review of "competence (incompetence) of evidence", so as to strengthen the control of the front-end of evidence. Finally, part of the norms on "the basis for the final decision" should be retained to maintain the back-end control elements, thus forming a "binary review mechanism" with the coexistence of the front-end and back-end controls. |