Explaining a ‘Reasonable Doubt’ to Juries: R v Lifchus

DOI10.1177/136571279800200405
Published date01 December 1998
AuthorRosemary Pattenden
Date01 December 1998
Subject MatterCase Note
CASE
NOTE
Explaining
a
'reasonable
doubt'
to
juries:
Rv
Lifchus
By
Rosemary
Pattenden
University
of
East
Angfia
The heavy
burden
of
proof
that
rests
on
the
prosecution
is
one
of
the
principal
safeguards
the
criminal
justice
system provides
against
the
conviction
of
the
innocent.
The
standard
that
the
prosecution
is
required
to
reach
is
conventionally
expressed by
the
phrase
'proof
beyond
reasonable
doubt',
which
has
been
part
of
legal
discourse
since
the
late
18th
century.
1No suggested
definition
of
this
expression
has
received
anything
near
universal
approbation
despite
much
analysis
of
the
concept. To assist
the
five
members
of
British
Columbia's
Court
of
Appeal to
decide
the
meaning
of
'a
reasonable
doubt'
in
1995
the
lawyers for
the
parties
assembled
12 volumes
of
material
containing
numerous
articles
and
more
than
100
decisions.'
The
very necessity
of
defining
the
concept
is
disputed.
A
phrase
that
to
some
jurists
is a legal
term
of
art
is to
other
jurists
an
ordinary
use
of
English.' In
R v Lifchus4
the
trial
judge
told
the
jury:
When
Iuse
the
words
'proof
beyond
reasonable
doubt'
I
use
those
words in
the
ordinary,
natural
every
day
sense.
There
isn't
one
of
you
who
hasn't
said,
gosh
I've
got
a
doubt
about
such
and
so. Perfectly every day word.
There
isn't
one
of
you
who
doesn't
~haPiro,
"Beyond
Reasonable Doubt" and
"Probable
Cause":
Historical
Perspectives
on the
I
~
~n~:o-American
Lawof
Evidence
(Berkeley. 1991) 21.
2T.
Mulrine.
'Reasonable
Doubt:
How in
the
World
is it
Defined?'
(1997) 12 Am
VJ
Int'I
&Pol'y 195
at 215. The case was Rv Brydon(1995) 95 CCC(3d) 509.
3
Dawson
v R (1962) 106 CLR 1 at 18.
4 (1997) 9 CR (5th) 1.
THE
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
OF
EVIDENCE
&
PROOF
253

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