PRESUMPTIONS IN LAW (Domnienky v prave)

Presumptions of law, legal fictions and legal definitions are distinct legal rules since they do not contain normative consequences understood as obligation, forbiddance or permission to act, i.e. to perform a volitional act. The function of these rules is the obligation to consider (i.e. to perform an intellectual act) a certain factual state of affairs to be a different factual state of affairs (presumptions and fictions) or to be a specific legal expression (definitions). The difference between presumptions and fictions rests in their capability to reflect common experience. This doctrinal division, however, is not analytically consistent so far as legal doctrine adheres to the terminology of Roman law without reflection of changed circumstances (e.g. 'presumption' against ignorance of law).