ELECTION PETITIONS AND THE STANDARD OF PROOF

In Bater v Bater Denning LJ stated that: ‘… in civil cases, the case may be proved by a preponderance of probability, but there may be degrees of probability within that standard’. He added that a higher degree of probability would be required where a civil court was considering a charge of fraud than when considering whether negligence had been established. Even so, a court was not required to adopt ‘so high a degree as a criminal court, even when it is considering a charge of a criminal nature’. In Hornal v Neuberger he again suggested that: ‘The more serious the allegation the higher the degree of probability that is required: but it need not, in a civil case, reach the very high standard required by the criminal law’.