The full library in alphabetical order, across every area of law.
A screenshot records what a screen displayed at a moment chosen by whoever took it. It carries no metadata about the underlying message, it can be cropped to change the sense, and it can be fabricated trivially. Native exports, account downloads and device images all preserve what a screenshot discards, and they are usually available.
A seal or official stamp asserts that a document was issued by a particular office acting in its official capacity. That assertion is why sealed public documents are treated as self-authenticating and can be filed without a witness. It says nothing about the accuracy of the contents, and a seal that cannot be checked against a known specimen is a claim rather than a verification.
Secondary evidence is proof of a document's contents offered where the document itself cannot be produced. Most systems require the party to establish that the original is genuinely unavailable and that the unavailability was not their own fault. Once admitted, secondary evidence is weighed like anything else, and its quality varies enormously between a certified copy and a recollection.
Burden shifting is a defined mechanism rather than a description of momentum. Establishing a prima facie position may require an opponent to respond, and raising an affirmative defense places its elements on the party asserting it. In most frameworks the burden of persuasion never moves at all, which means a party who treats a successful prima facie showing as a transfer of the ultimate obligation has misread what happened and will under-prepare everything that follows it.
Social media evidence presents two distinct problems. The first is capture: a post can be edited or removed at any time, so a record has to be made that will outlive it. The second is attribution: an account is not a person, and connecting a post to an individual requires evidence beyond the display name on the profile.
Spoliation is the destruction or alteration of evidence after an obligation to preserve it has arisen. The consequences range from an adverse inference through evidential exclusions to determinative sanctions, and they depend on when the duty attached, whether the loss was deliberate and how much prejudice resulted. Routine destruction before the duty arose is generally not spoliation at all.
Three standards do most of the work: more likely than not, clear and convincing, and beyond a reasonable doubt. They are not points on a smooth scale but distinct levels with different practical requirements, and which one applies depends on the proceeding and sometimes on the specific issue within it. Identifying the applicable standard before any evidence is gathered determines how much independent support a case needs and how far unexplained gaps can be left unaddressed.
Statements made for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment are admissible for their truth, covering symptoms, sensations, medical history and the general cause of a condition. The exception rests on the patient's self-interest in accuracy. It does not extend to statements attributing fault, which serve no treatment purpose and are excluded in most systems.
Delay affects different parts of an account unevenly. The central event is often well retained while dates, sequence, wording and peripheral particulars deteriorate quickly. A late statement is strengthened by identifying what it rests on, by anchoring it to contemporaneous documents, and by admitting plainly what the witness no longer knows.
Step relationships arise where a parent marries somebody who is not the child's other parent. Most frameworks impose an age condition, requiring the marriage to have taken place before the child reached a defined age, and many require the marriage itself to be valid and subsisting. Whether the relationship survives divorce or death depends entirely on the provision being used.
A stipulation is an agreement between parties that a fact is established or that a document is what it appears to be. It removes the issue from the proceeding, saves the time that would have been spent proving it, and binds the party who agreed. The risk lies in agreeing more than intended or in wording that carries an unnoticed implication.
A tax return carries weight because it was submitted under penalty for inaccuracy and because a third-party authority holds the record. What establishes that is a transcript or certified copy from the authority rather than a personal copy. Returns also show only what was declared, which matters where income was not fully reported.
