Legal Term: BURDEN OF PROOF

Definition: This phrase is employed to signify the duty of proving the facts in dispute on an issue raised between the parties in a cause.

2. The burden of proof always lies on the party who takes the affirmative in pleading. 1 Mass. 71, 335, 4 Mass. 593, 9 Pick. 39.

3. In criminal cases, as every man is presumed to be innocent until the contrary is proved, the burden of proof rests on the prosecutor, unless a different provision is expressly made by statute. 12 Wheat. See Onus probandi.

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