Burden of Proof

This refers to the threshold of certainty required to prove something in court and which party bears the responsibility of proving it. It is always the responsibility of the victim to prove that the defendant caused their injury or harm. Therefore, we say the victim has the burden of proof. In civil cases, the standard is usually the ‘preponderance of evidence. This means that the evidence must show that it’s more likely than not (over a 50% chance) that the plaintiff’s claims are true. Generally, the preponderance standard is the lowest threshold of certainty in a court setting.