Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1999
Keywords
Burden of proof, Formal legal truth, Substantive truth
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Evidence
Abstract
Truth is a fundamental objective of adjudicative processes; ideally, ‘substantive’ as distinct from ‘formal legal’ truth. But problems of evidence, for example, may frustrate finding of substantive truth; other values may lead to exclusions of probative evidence, e.g., for the sake of fairness. ‘Jury nullification’ and ‘jury equity’. Limits of time, and definitiveness of decision, require allocation of burden of proof. Degree of truth-formality is variable within a system and across systems.
Recommended Citation
Summers, Robert S., "Formal Legal Truth and Substantive Truth in Judicial Fact-Finding – Their Justified Divergence in Some Particular Cases" (1999). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 1186.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/1186
Publication Citation
Published in: Law and Philosophy, Vol. 18, No. 5 (September 1999).