burden of proof
39
5.4
- noun
- /ˈbɜrdən əv pruːf/
- Formal
:
carga de la prueba
- The burden of proof is on you.
- shift the burden of proof
- place the burden of proof
- burden of proof lies with
And don't you think the burden of proof is on you?
- And don't you think the burden of proof is on you?
- But once again, the burden of proof is on the FDA to prove that they did.
- But that's the lowest of these standards of proof, these burdens of proof that the courts have adopted.
- Likewise, the standard and burden of proof in a court is also counterintuitive.
- There's no burden of proof on the corporate entities to establish any level of safety.
- And I mean, we feel in general that criminal sanctions are a very blunt weapon because you have the burden of proof.
- Richard bears a very heavy burden of proof because his socialism has never existed.
- And when you do that, like in a regular trial, the burden of proof is on the state to prove you're innocent.
- And it may be the case that neither of those is where a de facto burden of proof rests.
- So from Nine Ways till Sunday, the burden of proof is on Steve and and he cannot bear that burden.
- She feels the burden of proof was shifted upon her goddaughter, who is, so far as I can tell, wasn't required to do much of anything in this investigation.
Examples
-
JUDGE: It is the opinion of this court that in this preliminary hearing, the evidence is insufficient for a juror to reasonably conclude that the State has met its burden of proof.
-
The burden of proof's on the prosecution.
-
Do the People have any additional evidence they can present to meet their burden of proof?
-
Having to show my hand when I have such a high burden of proof is not a level playing field.
Academic text (1995) -
But once again, the burden of proof is on the FDA to prove that they did.
-
We are still left with the special problem that we have in the UK that the burden of proof lies with the accused.
-
Again, the government has the burden of proof under intermediate scrutiny.
Academic text (2004) -
It's a setback, but they still have a high burden of proof to establish.
-
The burden of proof rests with the prosecution.
-
In a legal case, the burden of proof is on the defendant to show their innocence.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the obligation to present evidence' is directly derivable from combining 'burden' (a responsibility or load) with 'proof' (evidence) linked by the preposition 'of'. This noun + of + noun composition is semantically compositional and has clear cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g., Spanish 'carga de la prueba'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase burden of proof comes from the image of a person carrying a heavy burden of proof, like a pile of evidence they must bring to court. So, it means 'the responsibility to show evidence' in a legal case.