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Presumption of innocence is a legal Right that the Accused enjoys in Criminal Trials in many modern nations. It states that "no person shall be considered guilty until finally convicted by a court". The Burden Of Proof is thus on the Prosecution , which has to convince the court that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In principle, the defence does not have to 'prove' anything. However, the defence will often adduce evidence which would tend to show that there is a doubt as to the guilt of the accused. Conversely, in many if the person is home alone at the time of the crime). In many countries belonging to the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, the Principle of Presumption of Innocence is phrased such that "the accused is presumed to be Innocent until it has been declared Guilty by a Court ". This abbreviated form neglects the point that a person may continue to Appeal a decision, and will be presumed innocent until a final decision is made. Therefore people who have been found guilty in lower courts of law, but have pending appeals, cannot have their citizen's rights (such as to vote and to be elected) stripped nor can they be permanently removed from their offices, but merely suspended. A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT This right is so important in modern Democracies that many have explicitly included it in their legal codes and constitutions:
THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE IN PRACTICE Few systems have had, '' De Jure '', presumption of guilt. Accusations of presumption of guilt generally do not imply an actual legal presumption of guilt, but rather denounce some failures in ensuring that suspects are treated well and are offered good defense conditions. Typical infringements follow:
Guaranteeing the presumption of innocence extends beyond the judicial system. For instance, in many countries Journalistic codes of ethics state that journalists should refrain from referring to suspects as though their guilt was certain. For example, they use "suspect" or "defendant" when referring to the suspect, and use "allegedly" when referring to the criminal activity that the suspect is accused of. More subtly, publishing of the prosecution's case without proper defense argumentation may in practice constitute presumption of guilt. Publishing a roster of arrested suspects may constitute undeserved punishment as well, since in practice it damages the reputation of innocent suspects. Private groups fighting certain abuses may also apply similar tactics, such as publishing the real name, address, and phone number of suspects, or even contacting the suspects' employer, friends and neighbors (as an example, Perverted-Justice.com does so in order to shame suspected child molesters). Modern practices aimed at curing social ills may run against presumption of innocence. Some civil rights activists feel that Pre-employment Drug Testing , while legal, violates this principle, as potential employees are presumed to be users of illegal drugs, and must prove themselves innocent via the test. Similarly, critics argue that some dispositions of laws against Sexual Harassment or racial discrimination show a presumption of guilt. These dispositions were meant to ease the burden of proof on the victim, since in practice harassment or discrimination practices are hard to prove. Civil rights activists note that the well-meaning practices so adopted may have a deleterious effect on justice being served. An example is the use of a screen in sexual assault cases, which is set up in some jurisdictions to prevent the complainant from being distressed at the sight of the accused. Where a victim was in fact victimized by the accused, this may be argued to serve the principles of therapeutic justice [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_Jurisprudence . However, where an accused is in fact innocent, this may send a message to the jury that the court has already accepted that in fact a crime was committed, which burden of proof has traditionally been on the prosecution, and which furthermore is a matter of fact that is not for the court to judge, but rather, for the jury. Not only this but also even more importantly, such a shield may also send a message that the complainant is upset by the sight of the accused, once again because guilt is seen to have been assumed by the court in so shielding the complainant. The psychological effects of such a screen have not yet been well researched, but the tension between the two views is a problem for therapeutic justice, which must weigh protection of genuine victims from genunine offenders against the potential for unsafe conviction that such protection may create.[http://www.innocenceproject.org/] DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEGAL SYSTEMS A common opinion held in countries based on Common Law is that in Civil Law or Inquisitorial justice systems, the accused does not enjoy a presumption of innocence. This idea results from the fact that in most civil law nations, an Investigating Magistrate supervises police investigations. To common law countries with Adversarial System s, the civil law criminal justice system appears to be hopelessly Bias ed, since the judge should remain as impartial as possible. However the magistrate does not determine innocence or guilt and functions much as a Grand Jury does in Common Law nations. In the view of supporters of the inquisitorial system, the latter is less biased than the Adversarial System , since the judges supervising cases are independent and bound by law to direct their enquiries both in favor or against the guilt of any suspect, compared to prosecutors in an adversarial system, who will, it is claimed, look only for evidence pointing to guilt and whose re-appointments may depend on the number of successful prosecutions that they have brought. Many in civil-law countries such as those of continental Europe consider that the US system of justice, for instance, is biased against poor defendants, who cannot afford to pay for expensive lawyers to contradict the accusation. In general, Civil Law based justice systems, especially in Europe, avoid use of the term ''innocent'', since it carries a moral charge separate from the phrase ''not guilty''. It is argued a person who is found ''not guilty'' still cannot always claim to be innocent, e.g. if he/she has used lethal force in case of valid self-defence exerted against a Mentally Handicapped attacker with very low IQ . The wording is therefore delivered in a more formal and neutral manner, such that an accused is either declared ''guilty'', ''not guilty for lack of a crime'', ''not guilty due to lack of evidence'', or ''not guilty due to lack of jurisdiction'' (in the case that a child or lunatic is accused). Such plain language is better suited for the predominantly written proceedings and less emotionally-charged nature of civil law trials. DISTINCTION BETWEEN LAW AND ETHICS The term presumption of innocence has entered the mainstream of American society such that it has become indistinguishable from morality. Individuals claim that criminal defendants must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Although this is true from a legal standpoint it may need to be clarified to some that the law need not be the ethical opinion of an individual. An allegory may be drawn to Abortion ; despite the fact that abortion is legal in many forms that does not mean the US population as a whole must consider abortion to be an ethical act. EXTERNAL LINKS
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