Chapter 25
Standard of Truth
Introduction
Civil Cases
Criminal Cases
Special Cases
Measurement of Proof
Introduction
Step 3 Standard of Truth
Function of Step 3
Steps 1 and 2
In Step 1 of the model for proving facts a party makes out their case by
presenting a version or versions of the truth to the court. Step 2 involves a
court estimating the probability that each party’s case is the truth.
Step 3
Nature of Step 3
Here in Step 3 we come to the final stage in the process of finding facts. This
is where a court determines whether the probability that a party’s case is true
satisfies the standard of truth required by law. This standard is referred to in
law as the standard of proof. It sets a probability level for a court. Probability,
of course, “measures the strength of belief” that events have occurred.
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Consequently, the standard of proof tells a court how strongly it must believe
a party’s case, that is, how satisfied the court must be about the truth of facts,
before it finds that the party’s case has been proved in law.
Scale and Needle
For convenience in this discussion we refer to two concepts. There is a scale
of proof running from 0% to 100%. Sometimes we refer to a point on the
scale by a stating that the “needle” rests on this point.
Performing Step 3
This final step in the process of finding facts is simple. Having already
measured the strength of its belief in a party’s case (in Step 2), the court has to
compare this measure with the strength of belief that it is required to have by
the operative standard of proof. Thus the court compares two figures, the
probability that the plaintiff’s (or prosecutor’s) version of the facts is true with
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Robertson (1993)
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