ABSTRACT
Civil law Civil law is concerned with the resolution of disputes between individuals. The aggrieved party undertakes
the legal action. Most remedies are financial. All kinds of dispute may be encountered, including those of alleged negligence, contractual failure, debt, and libel or slander. The civil courts can be viewed as a mechanism set up by the state that allows for the fair resolution of disputes in a structured way. The standard of proof in the civil setting is lower than that in the criminal setting. In civil proceedings, the standard of proof is proof on the balance of probabilities – a fact will be established if it is more likely than not to have happened. Recently Lord Richards noted in a decision of the Court of Appeal in Re (N) v Mental Health Review Tribunal (2006) QB 468 that English law recognizes only one single standard for the civil standard but went on to explain that the standard was flexible in its application:
‘Although there is a single standard of proof on the balance of probabilities, it is flexible in its application. In particular, the more serious the allegation or the more serious the consequences if the allegation is proved, the stronger must be the evidence before the court will find the allegation proved on the balance of probabilities. Thus the flexibility of the standard lies not in any adjustment to the degree of probability required for an allegation to be proved (such that a more serious allegation has to be proved to a higher degree of probability), but in the strength or quality of the evidence that will in practice be required for an allegation to be proved on the balance of probabilities.’
