Rebuttable presumption

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Both in common law and in civil law, a rebuttable presumption (in Latin, praesumptio iuris tantum) is an assumption made by a court, one that is taken to be true unless someone comes forward to contest it and prove otherwise. A rebuttable presumption is often associated with prima facie evidence.

Rebuttable presumptions in criminal law are somewhat controversial in that they do effectively reverse the presumption of innocence in some cases.

The burden of proof in the United Kingdom was reversed by Section 75 of Sexual Offences Act 2003 in certain circumstance in relation to the issue of consent and mens rea creating a rebuttable presumption.