Both in common law and in civil law, a rebuttable presumption (in Latin, praesumptio iuris tantum) is an assumption that is made that is taken to be true unless someone comes forward to contest it and prove otherwise. Rebuttable presumptions in criminal law are somewhat controversial in that they do effectively reverse the presumption of innocence in some cases.

See also

• Burden of proof
• Conclusive presumption

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