balance of probabilities

balance of probabilities

the standard of proof in civil cases, demanding that the case that is the more probable should succeed. This is the kind of decision represented by the scales of justice. The court weighs up the evidence and decides which version is most probably true. Thus, the actual truth may never be known. All that is done in the Anglo-American system is to choose which of the combatants has presented the most probable version. If both seem equally balanced, then the person pursuing the case loses on the basis of the maxim melior est conditio defendentis, ‘better is the position of the defender’. For the standard in criminal cases see

Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006