The K-Zone: judicial notice
In general, a party seeking to establish a case in court must
offer Evidence to support all relevant assertions.
However, certain facts are sufficiently well
established in courtroom practice that
they don't need specific proof. For example, it does not
have to be proved that if a driver had a breath-test for
alchohol at the scene of a road accident, and the test was
positive, that the driver had consumed too much alchohol to
drive. In other words, there is a presumption that these
devices measure accurately and that the measurements are
universally applicable. Similar reasoning applies, for example,
to speed measuring devices. In such a case the burden of proof
would be on the accused to show that in that specific case the
presumption could not be justified.
FormalAdmission
Proof
ProbativePresumptionOfLaw
ProbativePresumptionOfFact
BasicPrinciples
Law glossary index
©1994-2006 Kevin Boone, all rights reserved