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Rebuttable presumption
Practical Law ANZ Glossary w-005-5201 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Rebuttable presumption
In litigation, a rebuttable presumption is an assumption of fact or law (or an assumption of mixed fact and law) made by a court based on the evidence before it.
For example:
- A presumption of fact may be made that a person who receives goods shortly after they have been stolen is aware of the theft.
- In proceeding to wind up a company, a presumption of law must be made under section 459C(2)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (CA 2001) that the company is insolvent if, during or after the 3 months ending on the day when the application was made, the company failed to comply with a statutory demand. That presumption operates except so far as the contrary is proved for the purposes of the application (section 459C(3), CA 2001).
A rebuttable presumption is taken to be true unless it is contested and disproved by evidence satisfying the requisite standard of proof. In that respect, see Practice note, Standards of proof.
Commercial agreements are generally presumed to be intended to be legally enforceable and domestic or social agreements are generally presumed not to be intended to be legally enforceable (for more information, see Practice note, Formation of contracts: Intention to create legal relations).
A rebuttable presumption is often associated with prima facie evidence.