onus probandi

 In the pinball machine that is my mind, a marble pinged off a thought about the concept of Burden of Proof, onus probandi. I went looking for some enlightment as so the roots of the phrase and came up with Latin - onus or 'burden', and probandi - 'of proving', and was apparently  originally part of a much longer phrase. None of this was hugely helpful. 

I looked at a law site where they explained this legal term with additional legal terms, in endless paragraphs of equally incomprehensible legal language which I do not speak. 

It is not that I do not understand what it is and why it is necessary. There needs to be sufficient, credible evidence to convict someone of any crime. I just wondered about why the word 'burden' was chosen, instead of maybe 'weight' or 'responsibility' or 'duty'.

It is a task of great gravity and responsibility to make a charge against someone. It should not be taken lightly or without significant proof and preparation.  

However, my mind and heart have been dwelling on the horror of sexual abuse lately. So I was picturing a victim, someone already deeply hurt, someone who hopes that the court process will give them the protection and justice that has not, and may not, be found in any other place. 

The evidence of the crime is written on their face, heard in their voice and hidden out of sight on their body. The crime is written in their past, their present and their future. 

Now to this, the justice system adds another burden, this 'burden of proof.' And the proof must be so compelling, so incontrovertible as to prove guilt beyond 'reasonable doubt'. Now this seems at the least, rather subjective and vague. I read that this criteria arose because earlier 'Christian' jurors were so convinced that they would certainly go to hell if they passed judgement on a person who actually was not guilty, that suddenly no one was found guilty. Somehow, 'reasonable doubt' allowed for some margin of error and freed them to actually pass judgement on occasion.

However, being that 'burden' implies a heavy load, something possibly painful and oppressive, and that victims already carry far too many of those, it almost seems like some of this language is an additional victimization. 

Just a thought.

(I went downtown to our Courthouse thinking to perhaps find the Scales of Justice inscribed on the building. I found instead the Royal Coat of Arms which hearkens back to our history as a British colony and later a Dominion. It features two mottoes; 'Honi soit qui mal y pense', and 'Dieu et Mon Droit'. Interestingly neither pertain to justice, but rather the right given by some to judge.)