Burden of Proof - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2210 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? The legal or persuasive burden of proof is defined as the ‘burden of persuading the tribunal of fact, to the standard of proof required and on the whole of the evidence, of the truth or sufficient probability of every essential fact in issue’. In our scenario, the claimant will bear the legal burden of proving each element of his claim and this entitles him to call evidence first, giving evidence through witnesses, who will also be cross-examined. The legal burden of proof can only be judged in the light of all the evidence presented in a case, and this can only be done once the defendants have also presented their case. The prosecution has the legal burden to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and to disprove beyond reasonable doubt the defences that an accused raises. In simple terms, there is an obligation of proving or disproving facts at issue. The burden is ‘legal’ in the sense that it is imposed by a legal rule and ‘pe rsuasive’ in the sense that the party bearing the burden will lose on that issue if he fails to discharge the burden by persuading the tribunal of fact to the relevant standard. In Jayasena, Lord Devlin said that the prosecution discharges the evidential burden â€Å"†. In Ching, reasonable doubt is described as a doubt to which you can give a reason as opposed to a mere fanciful sort of speculation. The evidential burden of proof is the burden of adducing evidence fit for consideration by the jury and there is the need to adduce sufficient evidence to satisfy a judge that the matter can be left to the jury to decide. There is an obligation upon both prosecution and defence to present sufficient evidence in support of their case. If the defence fails to discharge the evidential burden, the judge relieves the prosecution from the burden of disproving it. According to Lord Devlin, this requirement may be conveniently called ‘evidential burden’. The prosec ution does not have to disprove every possible defence in advance, so if a party has an evidential burden, it does not mean that they actually have to prove anything. The prosecution discharges the evidential burden by establishing a prima facie case, that is enough evidence to entitle, but not compel, the tribunal to find in favour of claimant, had it been no further evidence. In this case, the claimant has thereby defeated a submission of ‘no case to answer’, while the defendant is not obliged to give evidence or call any witnesses. In established the principle of ‘golden thread’, according to which ‘throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner’s guilt’. Where the accused pleads one of the exceptions, insanity, he bears the persuasive burden which is discharged on a balance of probabilities. However, if the defendant’s defen ce involves pleading issues, such as non-insane automatism, provocation or self-defence, the onus of disproving them rests on the prosecution. This formulation creates difficulties to juries as to the nature of reasonable doubt. As a result, a second formulation was put forward by Lord Goddard, the ‘satisfied so that you feel sure’. In Summers he stated ‘ if the jury told that it is their duty to regard the evidence and see that it satisfies them so that they can feel sure when they return a verdict, that is much better than using the expression ‘reasonable doubt’. When the defence bears the legal burden on an issue, they must prove it on balance of probabilities , as illustrated by Lord Denning in Miller. As the prosecution must disprove the defence ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, the defendant is required to demonstrate to a judge that a jury might have a reasonable doubt as to whether his defence will be disproved by the prosecution. The evidential burden will have been discharged if the defence was ‘a reasonable possibility’ worth leaving to the jury to consider, but not if ‘no reasonable jury, properly directed as to the law, could fail to find the defence disproved’. Therefore, the defendant must to call witnesses or give evidence to substantiate any defence and then it is for the prosecution to illustrate beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defence and acted with the necessary mental element. Question 2 a confession is defined as inclusive of any statement that partly or wholly adverse to someone who made it, whether made to someone in authority or not, or made in words or otherwise. A confession may be oral, in writing, by conduct or in any other way of communicating information. As stated in, if the defendant accepts an accusation made by the victim of the crime, or by someone else who is on an equal footing, then to the extent that he has accepted it , the statement becomes his own. However, any breach of the procedure may be used as ground for excluding a confession. First, as soon a police officer has grounds to suspect that a person has committed an offence and wishes to question him, the necessary steps needs to be follow, including access to legal advice, as anything said is considered as evidence under. The admissibility and relevance of a confession are questions to be decided by the judge, whereas the weight to be given to the confession is a question for the jury. The defendant cannot be compelled to testify as this may be regarded as a breach of the legal procedure. If the witness is wrongly compelled to answer such a question, his answer may not be admitted as evidence against him at his later prosecution. Under the defence may represent to the court that the confession may to be obtained by suasion and should automatically excluded, even if it turns out to be true. As defined in the method of questioning may amoun t to oppression. For example, in the deliberate misuse of the truth about the defendant’s mother health by the police could amount to harsh or improper treatment and therefore oppression. Finally, the Court of Human Rights restated the importance of the right to silence and privilege against self-incrimination under Article 6 ECHR regarding access to justice and fair procedure. Pursuant, there is the legal advice privilege, according to which communications passing between lawyer and client, materials prepared for the purposes of litigation and advice given are privileged. To quote the words of Lord Taylor, ‘’, being sure that nothing will be revealed without his consent. It arises out of a relationship of confidence between lawyer and client. Thus, the privilege must prevail over purely procedural subordinate legislation. The only limitations imposed are in relation to the relevant legal context as held in Balabel and Three Rivers. Finally, it is submitted th at no breach of confidentiality and no loss of privilege is involved when they are present during interviews or involved in preparing or transmitting communications with the client. Question 3 Opinion evidence is not admissible because it is for the tribunal of fact, and not for the witnesses, to form its opinion on the evidence. They must confine themselves to their personal perception of facts and not make any inferences from those directly observed facts. The opinion of expert-witnesses is helpful when the jury or the judge are unable to form an opinion based on bare facts and require additional expert assistance or when matters arise which concern other sciences or faculties. Although the ‘helpfulness principle’ of an expert witness has been criticized , expert opinion evidence to be admissible it must be able to provide the court with information which is probably outside of jury’s or a judge experience and knowledge, but it must also be evidence which gives the court the help it needs in forming its conclusions. There is no closed category where evidence cannot be placed before a jury, as ‘it would be wrong to deny to the law of evidence the advances to be gained from new techniques and new advances in science’ . An expert’s opinion in order to be reliable it have to be illustrated by admissible evidence. In Hodges was held that part of an expert’s experience and expertise might lie in his knowledge of unpublished material and in his evaluation of it. In R v Gilfoyle, the court suggested that if an opinion given by an expert may not be independently reconsidered by any criteria, this may to hinder its admittance. This is why provides that a jury shall not to make a determination [on unfitness to be tried]†¦except on the written or oral evidence of two at least medical registered practitioners. In our scenario, Dr. Khan’s opinion will not be admissible in evidence, because the method u sed is an innovative one, which cannot be independently reviewed yet and in any case it is essential that another registered medical practitioner confirms Dr Khan’s opinion. Question 4 (a)provides that ‘any person who without legal authority or presumable excuse and whereof the proof shoul lie on him, has into his possession any offensive weapon in any public area shall to be regarded guilty of violation †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. In R v Williams , it was concluded that imposes a legal burden on the defendant and it was then for the prosecution to make the jury sure that the appellant was not aware and did no has any reason to be suspected that it was readily convertible. Pursuant toan imitation weapon is one that looks as a such weapon; and it can be easily be converted into a weapon which a shot may be discharged. S. 1(6) mentions ‘readily convertible’ as requiring someone without special skills to converting it and for the work involved no tools or outfit other than such as are in common use by individuals performing manufacture and maintenance works in their own homes. The burden of proof on the defendant relies on the plea of diminished responsibility, as per section William has the legal burden of proof and to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that he has not been aware that the imitation firearm could be converted to fire live ammunition and thus he had no intention to use it and thus he may be able to rely upon this defence at trial. (b)In Bowers , it was held that clearly allows an adverse inference to be drawn from silence at a police interview where an accused had not given evidence, as to hold otherwise would permit an accused to preclude the drawing of such inferences by choosing not to give evidence. permits conclusion to be assumed when a accussed remain silent at the time he questioned. , the defendants silent was inadmissible, but the jury had to conclude to an unfavorable conclusion because of defendan ts silence at charge according to section 34(1)(b). Subsequently, this section cannot be applied to William case. In criminal proceedings, the general rule is that everybody has to be regarded innocent until guilty is proven. The prosecution has to illustrate that the defendant committed an offence by establishing ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ all elements of the violation. permits the jury and the court to conclude to such presumptions as may be regarded proper from the defendant failure or refusal to give evidence and answer any question without good reason. Conclusion is not permitted when the court understands that the mental or physical condition of the defendant makes him undesirable to provide evidence. Based on the 5-step test established in Cowan , if jury’s conclusion show that the silence only can appreciably be ascribed to the defendants no answers or none that would stand up to cross-examination, they may conclude to an hypothetical presumption. Also in , it was held that a jury had not directed that reasons might be provided for not giving other evidence than the inability to explain or answer the prosecution case. Therefore, ay be able to be applied in our case. (c)Where a suspect disputes identification, the prosecution will have to prove that the defendant is, beyond all reasonable doubt, the person who committed the offence. This is because it has not been clear so far whether the statement that the accused person was the person who committed the offence is admissible as evidence, or merely evidence confirming the evidence of the identifying witness at trial. According to the admissibility of a witness statement about identification is based on whether the evidence are given to the best of his belief and he states the truth. Building on that, the Court of Appeal in Turnbull provided guidance regarding disputed identification evidence and specified that a mistaken witness possible can be persuasive, but notice is required if the prosecution depends fully on the regularity of the identification of the defendant which the defense claims to be incorrect. Also the jury must take into account all the conditions in which identification was made, such as distance, light, impediments, witnesses’ previous accusations and the time between original observation and formal identification. In our scenario, given the circumstances at the night of the crime, William can argue based on Turnbull that there is a high probability that the witnesses’ statement may be not accurate as they cannot be absolutely sure about what they saw. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Burden of Proof" essay for you Create order

How to Display Menu Item Hints in Delphi Applications

Use specific coding language to program Delphi applications to display a hint, or tooltip, when the mouse hovers over a menu component. If the ShowHint property is set to true and you add text to the hint property, this message will be displayed when the mouse is placed over the component (a TButton, for example). Enable Hints for Menu Items Because of the way Windows is designed, even if you set the value for the hint property to a menu item, the popup hint will not get displayed. However, the Windows start menu items do display hints. The favorites menu in Internet Explorer also displays menu item hints. It is possible to use the OnHint event of the global application variable in Delphi applications to display menu item hints in a status bar. Windows does not expose the messages needed to support a traditional OnMouseEnter event. However, the WM_MENUSELECT message is sent when the user selects a menu item. The WM_MENUSELECT implementation of the TCustomForm (ancestor of the TForm) sets the menu item hint to Application.Hint so it can be used in the Application.OnHint event. If you want to add menu item popup hints (tooltips) to your Delphi application menus, focus on the WM_MenuSelect message. Popup Hints Since you cannot rely on the Application.ActivateHint method to display the hint window for menu items (as menu handling is completely done by Windows), to get the hint window displayed you must create your own version of the hint window by deriving a new class from the THintWindow. Heres how to create a TMenuItemHint class. This is a hint widow that actually gets displayed for menu items! First, you need to handle the WM_MENUSELECT Windows message: type TForm1 class(TForm) ... private procedure WMMenuSelect(var Msg: TWMMenuSelect) ; message WM_MENUSELECT; end...implementation...procedure TForm1.WMMenuSelect(var Msg: TWMMenuSelect) ;var  Ã‚  menuItem : TMenuItem;  Ã‚  hSubMenu : HMENU;begin inherited; // from TCustomForm (so that Application.Hint is assigned) menuItem : nil; if (Msg.MenuFlag $FFFF) or (Msg.IDItem 0) then begin if Msg.MenuFlag and MF_POPUP MF_POPUP then begin hSubMenu : GetSubMenu(Msg.Menu, Msg.IDItem) ; menuItem : Self.Menu.FindItem(hSubMenu, fkHandle) ; end else begin menuItem : Self.Menu.FindItem(Msg.IDItem, fkCommand) ; end; end;  Ã‚  miHint.DoActivateHint(menuItem) ;end; (*WMMenuSelect*) Quick info: the WM_MENUSELECT message is sent to a menus owner window when the user selects (but does not click) a menu item. Using the FindItem method of the TMenu class, you can get the menu item currently selected. Parameters of the FindItem function relate to the properties of the message received. Once we know what menu item the mouse is over, we call the DoActivateHint method of the TMenuItemHint class. The miHint variable is defined as var miHint : TMenuItemHint and is created in the Forms OnCreate event handler. Now, whats left is the implementation of the TMenuItemHint class. Heres the interface part: TMenuItemHint class(THintWindow)private activeMenuItem : TMenuItem; showTimer : TTimer; hideTimer : TTimer; procedure HideTime(Sender : TObject) ; procedure ShowTime(Sender : TObject) ;public constructor Create(AOwner : TComponent) ; override; procedure DoActivateHint(menuItem : TMenuItem) ; destructor Destroy; override;end; Basically, the DoActivateHint function calls the ActivateHint method of the THintWindow using the TMenuItems Hint property (if it is assigned). The showTimer is used to ensure that the HintPause of the Application elapses before the hint is displayed. The hideTimer uses Application.HintHidePause to hide the hint window after a specified interval. Using Menu Item Hints While some might say that it is not a good design to display hints for menu items, there are situations where actually displaying menu item hints is much better than using a status bar. A most recently used (MRU) menu item list is one such case. A custom taskbar menu is another.

Gothic Architecture Free Essays

string(58) " cathedrals and the cities they resided in would prosper\." The fall of the Roman Empire and the events that occurred in Europe leading up to the Middle Ages (has) have had a lasting effect on architecture and design today. The enduring values of medieval art and architecture can be split up into five major styles, early Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, Romanesque and Gothic. The most influential period was the Gothic, which is known for its significant change from classical architecture; this change from classical architecture aided in the Gothic era’s transformation to its own identity. We will write a custom essay sample on Gothic Architecture or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Medieval period is known for its constant airfare and battle, and most people feared death and eternal damnation; the Catholic Church gained its wealth and power through people’s fear. Due to the high level of religious devotion during this time, it is evident that church leaders, such as the Pope had more power than Kings and Queens. Even serfs wanted to maintain a relationship with God, so they paid small fees to be part of the church. Scott, page 149) Cathedrals and churches were sacred spaces, an escape from the hardship and brutality of life, indicating that religion during this time was the most important influence in medieval culture, art, and architecture. It is evident in the monumental cathedrals and churches. Many argue that art and design weren’t important during Medieval times. It is evident, however, through careful observation of monumental cathedrals and churches built during the early Middle Ages that the time period cherished art and design, rather than disregarded it. Religion was the most central aspect to life, and the intricate and divine detail included in these places of worship, such as the Notre Dame Cathedral show that art and design was very much appreciated. During the time of the Roman Empire, soldiers protected the middle and lower classes until it fell. The law then no longer protected the individuals, so they turned to the Lords to keep peace and protection. Thus began a period of time called the middle ages and the start of feudalism, which existed for over a century. Everyone’s life was lived out against a backdrop of fear; fear of violence, bloodshed, brutality, fear of starvation, fear of dying, and fear of ones fate in the afterlife. Famine and sickness were major factors in death during this time, considering they depended on ropes and agriculture to prosper, and the cold climate led to less food on their plates and nothing to sell at the market. Even when food was abundant, serfs still lacked a dependable source of essential vitamins, leaving them weak and vulnerable to death. Their water was polluted and there were no sanitation systems, which often led to epidemics. They lived in hovels that were poorly wood constructed shelters that had no indoor heating; no windows to bring in natural light and generally caught fire. (Cantor, page 383) Their only defense against living in these harsh environments was elision; faith in God was their only hope for salvation in the after life. People also believed when misfortune struck, whether in the form of fire, drought, famine, and war, that they had failed God. Constantine the Great was considered to be the last great emperor of Rome. Although his reign was before the middle ages, he played an important transitional role in history through his recognition of Christianity, which became the prominent religion in Europe until the Reformation. Due to the fact that civilization survived in such harsh living conditions, the Christian faith brought everyone together in a more positive light and shaped their lives from birth to death; their purpose on earth was to serve god, who was above them. Humanism wouldn’t make its presence known until the beginning of the renaissance, which was not until a century later, and society was Just adhering to the norm. Following the norm gave them great security, physically and emotionally. In any society that thrived for protection from the harshness of life through religion, people looked to however could secure your happiness in heaven; this person had the most political and cultural power. The Roman Catholic church was the supreme power during the Middle ages, and the laws of the land and leading roles of government were all in the hands of church leaders such as bishops and archbishops. The Pope was considered the most powerful, as he was God’s representative on earth. Although priests and kings had their individual responsibilities from the church, priests had a commitment to God, to communicate with him on behalf of the people, handing down Gods rules of conduct, where as the King was responsible for the people to adhere to those rules of conduct; he was noninsured God’s Solider. The king had lords and nobles who served him, controlling the land in exchange for protection of the serfs, villains or peasants. To maintain such an operation, one might have as many as 500 serfs in his household, while those lower on the social scale might have an average of 70. Since the church had extensive land holdings, it had great leverage in structuring feudalism (Blackmore, Robbie, page 68). The definition of feudalism is, â€Å"A political and economic system of Europe, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of rod to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture. † (Cantor, page 164) Feudalism is known for its negative connotation; however, it still gave people a reason for salvation, and aided in their interest in a higher existence. Feudalism put fear in society’s eyes, yet funded the construction of the cathedrals, which ironically had the opposite effect. Cathedrals were one response to the unsettling conditions of such a feudal society, but also became powerful and emotional masterpieces bringing the image of heaven to earth. These places of worship would serve to the lower classes and became city landmarks, a place where the village could experience solidarity. Together cathedrals and the cities they resided in would prosper. You read "Gothic Architecture" in category "Papers" Having centered themselves in the heart of the town, places of worship brought people from the countryside to the center of the city (Scott, page 69). Unlike the more classical based architecture that came before it, the Romanesque style, Gothic architecture was built with excess. The Gothic characteristics strove for extreme proportions and dimensions; this created new structures to heighten the buildings, as well as improving window sizes to bring in enough light. Gothic architecture had wider windows and doors than those of Romanesque buildings. According to their understanding, â€Å"light is a substance, yet it differs from other substances through its ability to penetrate glass or precious stone without splitting them† (Hovercrafts, page 51). The flying buttresses, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, soaring ceilings, and stained glass windows characterize gothic design, making it functional, yet dramatically appealing. They clearly understood the importance of light, and how bringing that element into the building changed people’s perceptions and attitudes. Notre Dame Cathedral is one of, if not the most profound example of gothic architecture. Construction of Notre Dame began under the direction of Maurice De Sully, Bishop of Paris in 1163. Geometric proportioning was fundamental for gothic design, which also led to the flying buttresses. When Notre Dame started its construction the walls were so thin, that arches on the exterior had to support the vertical and narrow proportions. The flying buttresses were not originally exposed and didn’t become acceptable until the end of the 12th Century. Cathedrals during this time were competing to be the tallest, which symbolized wealth and power (Scott, peg 94). Geometric proportion was indeed a constant preoccupation in the middle ages,† (Gridlock, page 14) and this created a whole new style for the nave and an increase in the size of the stain glass windows. This cathedral’s high alter was consecrated in 1189, and the nave was finished around 1196. The west faded of Notre Dame was completed between 1225 and 1230. The west faded displays an important characteri stic to the gothic style, the rose window, which has many efferent conceptions on its significance. Relating back to the Romans and the culls centered upon the Pantheon in Greece, some view it as the symbol of the sun, and God, also as its original form a flower which represents Mary, and lastly, heavenly Jerusalem, which is known to be a round city (Hovercrafts peg 50). Not only did the window symbolize god, but also the shape of the building as well, The Latin Cross was the architectural shape of the building, as if God was looking down from heaven recognizing their faith. The towers topping the west faded were completed around 1250. It took over 200 ears to complete, taking into consideration the climate, need for materials and transportation, labor, and warfare. A tremendous amount of effort implies the importance the cathedral had to the population. Abbot Surer believed, â€Å"everything that is most precious should be used above all to celebrate†. Abbot Surer was an influential leader during his time and patron of the arts. He was a classmate and friend to the future King Louis VI, who later appointed him Abbot of church Saint-Denis (Cantor, page 398 ). His duty was to enhance the stature of the church Saint-Denis, and under his power the church was renovated so rustically that it has become the first example of the Gothic style also known as the â€Å"heavenly capital†. Light was the primary source of faith and divine inspiration, opening up the dark Romanesque walls and cramming it with aisles and replacing the clerestory windows with stained glass. Stained glass is another important element to the cathedral’s design; one of the oldest surviving stained glass windows dates back to 1065, and can be found in the Cathedral of Sagebrush in Germany. (Cantor, page 397) www. Sobs. Rag Popular designs depicted scenes from the bible as well as the lives of the Saints. Some also illustrated everyday life, showing Artisans at work. Romanesque cathedrals had such thick walls and small windows, they provided poor light, whereas Gothic cathedrals had windows so large that the stained glass would lay out on an entire floor. Underst anding that light symbolized God, as the light came through the colored glass, often gave individuals a feeling of intense spirituality, not only illuminating the church, but them as well. Since few people could read or write, the windows also gave them a source of religious instruction. Sculptures were used as well throughout dihedral history. Sculptures of little monsters called Gargoyles conveyed more then one message, primarily to instill fear into the city. These Gargoyles represented the evil on earth, but were also said to scare off evil spirits, assuring citizens that it was a holy place. (Cantor, page 397) Ornamentation throughout the middle ages gave people an understanding to life and glorifying god. Over 80 cathedrals, and 500 abbey churches were built in the gothic style, (Cantor, page 104) astonishing monuments of Gods glory, each remained intact until the reformation. Cathedrals didn’t build over night, like today with skyscrapers that take six years to build. It took up too two hundred years, some generations wouldn’t even get to see them completed although worked on them their whole life. Workers would use the most basic tools, and the number of tools required for such a task were quite small, for example hammer, epic and axe, saw; working in conditions that modern day health and safety laws would forbid today. (Scott, page 21) It clearly shows the importance of these building to the people during that time period. Everything about he medieval cathedral, special use of light, layout, and sculptors are all inspirations of God. People feared that failure to use the best human creativity might be interpreted by the God as something less than full devotion, so they felt compelled to use all of their artistic, engineering and craft based creative individuals to create the finest space they were capable to build. Architecture was their doorway to a better life and as evidence shows the monumental cathedrals and churches built during the early Middle Ages were cherished art and design. How to cite Gothic Architecture, Papers Gothic Architecture Free Essays Gothic Architecture Gothic architecture was brought about by Romanesque architecture. This unique style of architecture flourished and thrived around the high and late medieval period, but was succeeded by the Renaissance architecture. The Gothic style of architecture may not have been here for very long but it was still an inspirational piece of work for most groups and nations to come to build up from. We will write a custom essay sample on Gothic Architecture or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gothic architecture was known as â€Å"French work† during this period of time, having originated in 12th Century France, it only lasted into the 16th century when it was replaced by the Renaissance architecture. Gothic architecture’s most noticeable features include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the infamous flying buttress. It was mostly used in the designing and building of many great cathedrals, abbeys, and churches throughout Europe. This type of architecture is great in churches and cathedrals for it was expressed powerfully though these different building types. The Gothic architecture always seems to find a way directly to the individuals’ emotions, creating a strong and personal bond between the building and the beholder. For this very same reason, if one wanted to study Gothic architecture, they must seek to observe and study churches and cathedrals for a firsthand look and experience of what I am talking about. Although the Gothic architecture was founded and used mostly in France, it did catch the eye of surrounding nations and countries such as Germany and Belgium. They began to attempt to copy this style and tried to incorporate it into a majority of their buildings, only proving how strongly they were influenced by this style of architecture. To reiderate, Gothic architecture was a very inspirational and intruiging style of architecture. It was unique and spoke to the â€Å"inner building† within us all and highly impacted many other nations. The Gothic architecture is and always will be a great basis for building design now and for many years to come. How to cite Gothic Architecture, Essay examples