“Your messages I hear”
Once a service provider has established that it falls within the scope of the e-Evidence rules, the next step is to clarify to whom European Production and Preservation Orders are actually addressed. The service provider and the addressee of a specific order are not necessarily one and the same.
The designated establishment
Where a service provider with legal personality is established in a Member State (with the exception of Denmark), it must, as a general rule, designate an establishment with its own legal personality. This establishment must be located in a Member State in which the provider offers its services and must be subject to enforcement measures there.
The designated establishment is more than a mere point of contact. The service provider must equip it with the necessary powers and resources so that incoming orders can actually be received and processed.
The legal representative
Where the service provider is not established in a participating Member State in this way, it must instead appoint a legal representative. This may be a natural or legal person and takes on, on the provider’s behalf, the function of the designated establishment.
The legal representative, too, must be equipped in such a way that it can actually perform the tasks assigned to it. A mere “letterbox” arrangement is therefore not sufficient. A lack of internal responsibilities or powers cannot, as a general rule, justify non-compliance with incoming orders.
The addressee of the order
The designated establishment or the legal representative becomes the legal addressee of the EPOC or EPOC-PR (European Production Order Certificate / European Preservation Order Certificate). They are intended to receive, comply with and, where applicable, enforce the order.
The seat of the addressee at the same time determines the enforcing State. That is where the authority is located that, under the e-Evidence Regulation, may become involved in the proceedings, in particular in connection with a notification or subsequent enforcement.
For service providers already operating within the Union as of 18 February 2026, the deadline for designating or appointing such a body has since expired. They were required to have a corresponding body in place by 18 August 2026 at the latest.
Designation alone is not enough
What matters is that the respective addressee is also practically capable of processing incoming orders within the applicable deadlines and formal requirements, and of providing the requested data. Particularly given the short response deadlines, receipt, review, internal assignment, deadline monitoring and secure transmission must all function reliably.
This is where our platform supports the entire process – from BfJ registration, through EPOC receipt via e-CODEX, structured formal review and deadline management, to secure transmission and documentation in the audit trail. Where required, an individual legal review can additionally be arranged directly through the platform.