shifting burden
Transferring the onus
Shifting burden describes the transfer of responsibility, obligation, or blame from one party to another.
In law, it often refers to the burden of proof moving between parties during litigation: Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant.
More broadly, it describes any situation where accountability or effort gets passed along: The policy just shifts the burden from corporations to consumers.
- externalityUncompensated effect on others
- delegationTransferring responsibility downward
- hot potatoRisky topic avoided
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- scapegoatingUnfairly assigning fault to innocents
projection · not my problem · liability · blame-shifting · buck passing · passing the buck · taxation · power dynamics · collective responsibility · shared responsibility · moral hazard · redistribution · culpability · off the hook · avoidance behavior · compartmentalization · wealth transfer · subsidy
- legal presumptionspresumption, presumption of innocence, presumption of death
- legal proofstandard of proof, reasonable doubt, beyond reasonable doubt, clear and convincing, onus