文章基本信息

标题：Standards of Proof in Civil Litigation: An Experiment from Patent Law
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作者：David L. Schwartz ; Christopher B. Seaman
期刊名称：Harvard Journal of Law and Technology
印刷版ISSN：0897-3393
出版年度：2013
卷号：26
期号：2
出版社：William S Hein
摘要：Our litigation system is based upon the assumption that standards of proof matter.1They serve "to instruct the factfinder concerning the degree of confidence our society thinks he should have in the correct-ness of factual conclusions."2The various standards of proof reflect the legal system's judgment about the proper allocation of risk be-tween litigants, as well as the relative importance of the issues at stake.3For example, in criminal cases where the defendant's liberty may be at stake, the prosecution carries the burden of proving every element of the criminal charge "beyond a reasonable doubt."4In con-trast, "preponderance of the evidence,"a much less stringent standard, is most common in civil cases.5The third main standard, "clear and convincing evidence,"is an intermediate standard employed in civil litigation when "the individual interests at stake... are both 'particu-larly important'and 'more substantial than mere loss of money.'"6But despite the perceived importanceof standards of proof, few empirical studies have tested lay jurors'understanding and application of standards of proof, particularly in civil litigation.7Specifically, to our knowledge, there has not been a large-scale study of a demo-graphicallyrepresentative population comparing jurors'decisions when confronted with the two standards of proof used in civil litiga-tion: (1) preponderance of the evidence, and (2) clear and convincing evidence.