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In law, a trier of fact or finder of fact is a person or group who determines disputed issues of fact in a legal proceeding (usually a trial) and how relevant they are to deciding its outcome. [1] To determine a fact is to decide, from the evidence presented, whether something existed or some event occurred.
Questions of law are resolved by a judge or equivalent, while questions of fact are resolved by a trier of fact, which in the common law system is often a jury. Conclusions of law are more readily reconsidered by an appellate court, whereas findings of fact in a common law legal system are rarely overturned. [citation needed]
These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision. The trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. [1] The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum (amount), quality, and type of proof needed to prevail in litigation.
In civil law cases, such as a dispute over a contract or a claim about an accidental injury, the burden of proof usually requires the plaintiff to convince the trier of fact (whether judge or jury) of the plaintiff's entitlement to the relief sought. This means that the plaintiff must prove each element of the claim, or cause of action, in ...
In most common law jurisdictions, the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge; in such jury trials, the jury acts as trier of fact. In some cases, the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law, by either statute, custom, or agreement of the parties; this is referred to as a bench trial.
The use of a Jury in the common law as a judge of fact is unique when compared to civil law systems. The Jury are triers of fact in both civil and criminal cases and this reflects a particular culture of law; namely the direct involvement of society in the legal framework. In France a judge's role as trier of law and fact is merely as an ...
An explanation involving circumstantial evidence becomes more likely once alternative explanations have been ruled out. Circumstantial evidence allows a trier of fact to infer that a fact exists. [1] In criminal law, the inference is made by the trier of fact to support the truth of an assertion (of guilt or absence of guilt).
Judge did not follow the law. seating a juror who has manifested impermissible bias to one party or the other, admitting evidence which should have been excluded under the rules of evidence, excluding evidence which a party was entitled to have admitted, giving an incorrect legal instruction to a jury,