The ‘EASO Practical Guide: Evidence Assessment’, part of the EASO Practical Guides Series, is the second tool, developed under the EASO Quality Matrix activities, following the ‘EASO Practical Guide: Personal Interview’. With this Practical Guide, EASO aims to provide further support to case officers within the European Union and beyond in their daily work in the core, yet challenging, aspect of evidence assessment.

The Practical Guide suggests a structured approach and guides the user, through checklists and brief guidance, in the evidence assessment process, including: 1) Gathering information; 2) Credibility assessment; 3) Risk assessment. It is in line with the structured approach under the core EASO Training Curriculum module on Evidence Assessment.

The interactivity of the tool allows the user to go directly, by using the hyperlinks, to the parts of the guidance that are of interest and to consult further relevant legislation and other material. In specific places, the tool leaves space for adding information regarding the national context, allowing tailoring the Practical Guide as one-stop guidance. A template which can be applied to individual cases is attached within as a further practical add-on.

EASO would like to thank the national experts who developed the Practical Guide for their work and valuable expertise; all Member States which contributed to it within the final consultation process; as well as the Reference Group, including the European Commission, UNHCR and ECRE, which provided input throughout the drafting process.