ABSTRACT
Every contested case, civil or criminal, must give rise to at least one contested issue of fact, but many cases of both kinds give rise to several issues of fact to be decided between the parties. This is particularly frequent in civil cases, because a defendant against whom a claim is made will often not only defend that claim but raise one of his own against the claimant (formerly the ‘plaintiff’) – called a ‘counterclaim’ – to be decided in the same action. This chapter deals with two questions which arise in relation to every issue of fact: (a) Who has the ‘legal burden’ of proof, that is, the burden of adducing evidence to
prove the fact in question? (b) What test will be applied to determine whether sufficiently weighty evidence has
been called to discharge that burden?
