Law relating to presumptions

You see a wet umbrella at the door and wet footprints in the hall, and you conclude that it has been raining. Nobody proved it to you; you drew a conclusion from ordinary experience. Courts do this all the time, and Parliament has also told them to do it in particular situations. But an inference can be wrong, so who is allowed to challenge it, and how strong is it? The law of presumptions answers by sorting them into may, shall and conclusive.

In two minutes

A presumption is a conclusion the court draws, or must draw, from proved facts; the Act has three strengths: may presume, shall presume (both open to rebuttal) and conclusive proof (closed to rebuttal), and it lists presumptions about documents, offences, legitimacy, marriage-related deaths and general facts.

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