issue. Once evidence is admitted, the court will consider the evidence
in
reaching its conclusion.
In so doing, a court generally speaking
has a wide discretion to believe or
disbelieve evidence, or to accept only some of a party's evidence. It is
obvious that in exercising such a discretion, and in reaching its conclusion, a
court will give very careful consideration to how much weight it can put on
evidence given by a party where that evidence is favourable to that party's
case, and where that party's evidence is the only evidence of the facts so
alleged (that is, it is uncorroborated). But in principle, there is no legal reason
that a party's evidence in these circumstances cannot be accepted, and cannot
be accepted entirely. Those who baulk at accepting a party's statement about
their
own actions and conversations in a problem question are, to use legal
terminology, confusing its admissibility with its weight.
Organise Facts
To have a good grasp of facts it is necessary to organise them in a logical
way. Facts in a problem question may or may not come organised. If they are
not organised in the question then the student needs to organise the facts for
themselves especially if they are either long or complicated. Typically
organising facts entails putting them in chronological order, arranged by
reference to major incidents or transactions. In the process, put like things
together
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and connected events in sequence. Well located and thoughtfully
constructed headings and subheadings are a major benefit. Finally, it can
sometimes help to organise some or all of the facts in a diagram or a timeline.
Resolve Problems
It is possible that there are problems with facts as they are
presented in the
question. (i) There may be omitted facts. (ii) Facts may be inferences rather
than raw data. (This is a special case of omitted facts.) (iii) Facts may contain
inferred law, that is, an inference of legal consequences. (iv) There may be
surplus facts. (v) Facts in constitutional law and administrative law are in a
special position.
In the real world a lawyer can generally deal with these problems by making
appropriate inquiry. In law school, however, facts in a problem question are
frozen
and inaccessible outside the question. Therefore to deal with these
problems a student should make appropriate and reasonable assumptions.
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For example, the facts might say that Jenny was carrying a brief case that
contained
a pen, a note pad and an address book. Later the facts recount that
Jenny was also carrying a photograph of a house. In your account of the facts, put
all of these items together. Trivial as this illustration seems, it makes an important
point.
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