Evidence Law in the Ugandan Jurisdiction
BURDEN OF PROOF AND STANDARD OF PROOF.
Under s. 4 of the Uganda Evidence Act, evidence may be given in any suit or proceeding of the existence or non-existence of every fact in issue and of such other facts as are declared to be relevant. C.D. Field has defined burden of proof as a metaphorical phrase indicating an obligation to prove a fact or facts. This obligation necessarily involves the adduction of evidence in an attempt to prove a fact, subject to occasional cases where a fact can be established without evidence.
Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, Thayer maintained that the “words burden of proof” were used in two senses and that there was only one phrase for two ideas. One idea was the duty of him who will lose the case if he does not make out a proposition, and the other was the duty of going forward in argument or in producing evidence. Wigmore on the other hand while elaborating Thayer’s thesis treated the two meanings of burden of proof as involving two separate burdens. One burden was that of convincing the jury at the end of the trial and the other was that of making out a prima facie case.
It is provided in section 101(1) of the Uganda Evidence Act that whoever desires a court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he or she asserts must prove that those facts exist. Subsection (2) provides that when a person is bound to prove the existence of any fact, it is said that the burden of proof lies on that person. This can be illustrated as below:
(a) A desires a court to give judgment that B shall be punished for a crime which A says that B committed. A must prove that B committed the crime.
(b) A desires court to give judgment that he is entitled to a certain landing the possession of B, by reason of facts which he asserts and which B denies to be true. A must prove the existence of those facts.
The obligation to adduce evidence is not backed by any direct sanction for the penalty for
Under s. 4 of the Uganda Evidence Act, evidence may be given in any suit or proceeding of the existence or non-existence of every fact in issue and of such other facts as are declared to be relevant. C.D. Field has defined burden of proof as a metaphorical phrase indicating an obligation to prove a fact or facts. This obligation necessarily involves the adduction of evidence in an attempt to prove a fact, subject to occasional cases where a fact can be established without evidence.
Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, Thayer maintained that the “words burden of proof” were used in two senses and that there was only one phrase for two ideas. One idea was the duty of him who will lose the case if he does not make out a proposition, and the other was the duty of going forward in argument or in producing evidence. Wigmore on the other hand while elaborating Thayer’s thesis treated the two meanings of burden of proof as involving two separate burdens. One burden was that of convincing the jury at the end of the trial and the other was that of making out a prima facie case.
It is provided in section 101(1) of the Uganda Evidence Act that whoever desires a court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he or she asserts must prove that those facts exist. Subsection (2) provides that when a person is bound to prove the existence of any fact, it is said that the burden of proof lies on that person. This can be illustrated as below:
(a) A desires a court to give judgment that B shall be punished for a crime which A says that B committed. A must prove that B committed the crime.
(b) A desires court to give judgment that he is entitled to a certain landing the possession of B, by reason of facts which he asserts and which B denies to be true. A must prove the existence of those facts.
The obligation to adduce evidence is not backed by any direct sanction for the penalty for