Also known as: function of the court and jury · court and jury functions · functions of court and jury · judge jury roles · allocation of functions court jury · division between judge and jury
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The allocation of decision-making authority between judge and jury on questions of negligence and causation. The judge screens the evidence for legal sufficiency and states the governing standards. The jury resolves disputed facts and applies those standards whenever reasonable minds could differ on the existence of negligence or its causal connection to the harm.
Luis removed his hard hat and walked under a swinging pallet at an Apex Builders site despite posted warnings. A brick fell and injured him. Apex asserted that Luis's own conduct and its causal role barred recovery. The court screened the record for sufficiency but submitted both Luis's negligence and its causal effect to the jury because the evidence permitted reasonable disagreement on those factual questions.
Sparf and Hansen faced murder charges after a fatal stabbing at sea. The trial judge instructed the jury on the legal elements of the offense and refused to let the jury decide the law itself. The Supreme Court upheld that division of roles, confirming that the court states the law while the jury finds the facts under proper instructions.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The court removes those issues from the jury only when the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion. Reasonable minds must be unable to differ on whether the plaintiff was negligent or whether that negligence caused the harm.
Supporting sources
They are identical. The judge screens both sets of issues for legal sufficiency under the same standard, and the jury resolves disputed facts about negligence and causation whenever the evidence supports competing inferences.
Supporting sources
The jury decides whether the defendant conformed to the required standard of conduct and whether any departure caused the plaintiff's harm, provided the evidence permits reasonable disagreement on those factual questions.
Supporting sources