carga de la prueba

burden of proof; burden of persuasion; burden of production

Carga de la prueba is easily recognizable as an appropriate rendering for “burden of proof.” But carga de la prueba is also sometimes offered as a translation for “burden of persuasion,” perhaps because there isn’t really a similar Spanish law concept. Indeed, in Anglo-American law the concept of burden of proof entails two different aspects: “burden of persuasion” and “burden of production” (also called “burden of going forward with the evidence”).

This is evident in the definitions provided in Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed.):

 Burden of proof–A party’s duty to prove a disputed assertion or charge. The burden of proof includes both the burden of persuasion and the burden of production.

 Burden of persuasion–A party’s duty to convince the fact-finder to view the facts in a way that favors that party. In civil cases, the plaintiff’s burden is usually “by a preponderance of the evidence,” while in criminal cases the prosecution’s burden is “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

 Burden of production–A party’s duty to introduce enough evidence on a issue to have the issue decided by the fact-finder, rather than decided against the party in a peremptory ruling such as a summary judgment or directed verdict.

 The fact that Spanish may not have terminological equivalents for both “burden of persuasion” and “burden of production” was underscored by Professor Fernando Gómez Pomar (professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra Law School in Barcelona) in an article published in the InDret law journal in 2001:*

 Las reglas sobre carga de la prueba comprenden, pues, de un lado, la determinación del umbral de certidumbre que requiere el juzgador para satisfacer la pretensión y, de otro, la determinación de cuál de las partes ha de suministrar las pruebas para alcanzar dicho umbral, so pena de recibir una decisión adversa sobre el fondo del asunto si no lo hace.

En el ámbito jurídico norteamericano, ambos aspectos son analizados independientemente dentro de la genérica “burden of proof”: se habla así de “burden of persuasion”, “level of confidence” o “standard of proof” … para referirse al primero, frente a “burden of production” o “burden of proof” en sentido estricto.

En España y, en general, en Europa, no se realiza con nitidez –o no se realiza en absoluto- la distinción entre las dos vertientes de la carga de la prueba. Tal vez ello se deba a que implícitamente se considera que sólo hay un nivel de confianza o convicción jurídicamente admisible en el juzgador acerca del acaecimiento de un cierto suceso.

Thus, the single expression carga de la prueba may have to suffice when rendering either “burden of proof” or “burden of persuasion” in English, unless the context requires clearly distinguishing the two by providing definitional translations. In contrast, I believe that “burden of production” (or “burden of going forward with the evidence”) does have an equivalent concept in Spanish and may be appropriately rendered as carga de aportación de la prueba.

*Fernando Gómez Pomar. Carga de la prueba y responsabilidad objetiva. InDret 1/2001, pp. 1-17. http://www.indret.com/pdf/040_es.pdf