I can find plenty to back up my "stance".
Go on then, case law will do. I’m sure as a barrister you will have access to reams of that.
Firstly, in English law it is claimant and defendant, or applicant and respondent in the case of an application.
The burden of proof lies with the complainant, but in practice if a complainant states in evidence "I did not say x or did not do X" the burden of proving the contrary then effectively shifts back to the respondent.
Good grief. Why would the claimant state in evidence "I did not say x or did not do X"? The claimant is complaining of the words of the defendant, not the other way around, do keep up.
When a defamation claim is brought the claimant must first persuade the court that the words are defamatory. The accepted legal definition of defamation is the publication of a statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally.
Once it is established that the words are defamatory it is up to the defendant to show that they have a defence to the claim. One such defence is “justification”, in other words, that the words published are true.
Here is a simple example:
Dave writes an article for a magazine which asserts that Clive (founder of a childrens charity) is a paedophile.
Clive sues Dave in defamation.
Clive successfully shows that Dave’s words are defamatory.
Dave pleads a defence of justification.
Dave now has to prove that Clive is a paedophile. Clive is not required to prove that he isn’t a paedophile (that would be absurd!).
Is that simple enough?
for evidential reasons which are beyond the scope of this lecture and would certainly be beyond your comprehension.
Careful, you’re starting to sound desperate.