U3AOS2Topic 1: Key principles in the civil justice system
| Study design dot point: | Key principles in the Victorian civil justice system, including the burden of proof and the standard of proof. |
The burden of proof:
- Refers to the party with the onus or responsibility to prove the facts of the case. That is, this duty lays with the plaintiff as they are bringing forth a civil claim against someone else (the defendant).
- Similar to civil law, the burden of proof may be reversed in instances where the defendant raises a defence as they now have the burden of proving that defence.
The standard of proof:
- Refers to the strength of evidence required to prove the case. That is, the standard of proof in civil cases is on the 'balance of probabilities'. This means that the plaintiff must prove that their version of the facts is more probable/likely to have occurred than not in order for the defendant to be found liable.
- The standard of proof in civil law is a less strict requirement than the standard of proof in criminal law.