Question of law

Answers to questions of law are generally expressed in terms of broad legal principles.

[2] All questions of fact can be proved or disproved by reference to a certain standard of evidence.

Depending on the nature of the matter, the standard of proof may require that a fact be proven to be "more likely than not" (there is barely more evidence for the fact than against, as established by a preponderance of the evidence) or true beyond reasonable doubt.

For instance, the common law used to require that a plaintiff's complaint in a civil action only state the "facts" of his case, not any "legal conclusions."

[4]Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote in Brown v. Allen that findings of fact were based on "recital[s] of external events and the credibility of their narrators".