# Shifting the burden of proof

*Also called: Onus probandi reversal*

- **Cluster:** Burden and ignorance — Not knowing treated as knowing
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/burden-shift/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/burden-shift.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Requiring the other side to disprove a claim that was asserted without support.

## In the wild

> Prove my claim is wrong, otherwise accept it.

## How to answer it

Restate that the burden sits with whoever makes the claim.

## Origin and naming

The legal tradition states the rule as 'onus probandi incumbit ei qui agit' — the burden of proof lies with the one who asserts, not the one who denies. Reversing that rule is a special case of the appeal to ignorance. Hitchens's razor gives the terse answer: what is asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.

## More places it shows up

- I say their candidate is corrupt. Can you prove otherwise? No? Then it's settled.
- Our competitor's code is definitely stolen from ours — if not, let them open their repositories and prove it.
- You've knocked on this door every week asking for rent evidence. Prove that I didn't already pay.
- The new allergen-free formula is dangerous until its makers prove it isn't.

## How to spot it

- Notice when 'prove me wrong' arrives before any positive case is made.
- Notice when answering the challenge would require you to falsify a claim you never agreed to.
- Notice when the debate ends the moment you refuse to play defense.

## Nearby

- [Appeal to ignorance](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/appeal-ignorance.md)
- [Unfalsifiability](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/unfalsifiability.md)
- [Fallacy fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/fallacy-fallacy.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof_(philosophy))

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.