The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present compelling evidence to the trier of fact (a judge or a jury). If the prosecution does not prove the charges true, then the person is acquitted of the charges. The prosecution must in most cases prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If reasonable doubt remains, the accused must be acquitted. The opposite system is a presumption of guilt.
In many countries and under many legal systems, including common law and civil law systems (not to be confused with the other kind of civil law, which deals with non-criminal legal issues), the presumption of innocence is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial. It is also an international human right under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11.
History
Roman law The sixth-century Digest of Justinian (22.3.2) provides, as a general rule of evidence: "Proof lies on him who asserts, not on him who denies". It is there attributed to the second and third century jurist Julius Paulus. It was introduced in Roman criminal law by emperor Antoninus Pius.See Bury, p. 527
A civil law system is a modern legal system derived from the ancient Roman legal system (as opposed to the English common law system). The maxim and its equivalents have been adopted by many countries that use a civil law system, including Brazil, China,CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA|date=August 2001 France,Code de procédure pénale, article préliminaire Italy, Philippines,People vs. Masalihit, decision of the Supreme Court of The Philippines Poland, Romania and Spain.
Talmudical law According to Talmud, "every man is innocent until proved guilty. Hence, the infliction of unusual rigours on the accused must be delayed until his innocence has been successfully challenged. Thus, in the early stages of the trial, arguments in his defence are as elaborate as with any other man on trial. Only when his guilt has become apparent were the solicitous provisions that had been made to protect defendants waived".Aaron Kirschenbaum, Double Jeopardy and Entrapment in Jewish Law, 3 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights, Rts. 202 (1973), p. 211.
Islamic law The presumption of innocence is fundamental to Islamic law where the principle that the onus of proof is on the accuser or claimant is strongly held, based on a hadith documented by Imam Nawawi.Imam Nawawi. 1977. An-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith (Second Edition English Translation by Ezzedin Ibrahim). Damascus: Holy Koran Pub. House, Hadith No. 33 "Suspicion" is also highly condemned, this also from a hadith documented by Imam NawawiRiyaadus Shaaliheen, Hadith No. 1573 as well as Imam BukhariSahih Al-Bukhari (English Version), Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 90 and Imam Muslim.Sahih Muslim (English Version), Book 32, Hadith 6214
After the time of Muhammad, the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib has also been cited to say, "Avert the prescribed punishment by rejecting doubtful evidence."Imam ibn Hajar's Bulugh al-Maram (English Version), Book 10, Hadith 1260
Medieval European law After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the West began to practice feudal law, which was a synthesis of aspects of Roman law as well as some Germanic customs according to the new elite, including presumed guilt. For instance, the accused could prove his innocence by having twelve people swear that he could not have done what he was accused of. In practice, this tended to favor the nobility over the lower classes, whose witnesses risked being seen as less credible.
Trials by ordeal were common from the 6th century until the early 13th century, and were known to continue into the 17th century in the form of witch-hunts. Whilst common in early Germanic law, compurgation was formally adopted in Rome by Pope Innocent III in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council and trials by fire and water specifically were forbidden. This was during the period of development of the , the canon law of the Catholic Church influenced the common law during the medieval period.Friedman, Lawrence M., American Law: An Introduction (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1984), pg. 70.
In the early 13th century, Louis IX of France, better known as Saint Louis, banned all trials by ordeal and introduced the presumption of innocence to criminal procedures.Villehardouin, G. de., Joinville, J. (1955–1908). Memoirs of the Crusades. London: J.M. Dent. p. 184 (known as Scecedin) This did not last for long and the institutional use of torture, called "question préalable" and subdivided into "question ordinaire" (light torture) and "question extraordinaire" (severe torture), applied at the judge's discretion against individuals suspected of a crime, was to last up to the eve of the French Revolution.E. Roger Clark, Le siècle des Lumières face à la torture
Meaning
"Presumption of innocence" serves to emphasize that the prosecution has the obligation to prove each element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt (or some other level of proof depending on the criminal justice system) and that the accused bears no burden of proof. pp. 133–34. This is often expressed in the phrase "presumed innocent until proven guilty", coined by the British barrister Sir William Garrow (1760–1840) during a 1791 trial at the Old Bailey. Garrow insisted that accusers be robustly tested in court. An objective observer in the position of the juror must reasonably conclude that the defendant almost certainly committed the crime. In 1935, in its judgment of Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions, the English Court of Appeal would later describe this concept as being 'the golden thread' running through the web of English criminal law. Garrow's statement was the first formal articulation of this.
The presumption of innocence was originally expressed by the French cardinal and canonical jurist Jean Lemoine in the phrase "item quilbet presumitur innocens nisi probetur nocens (a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty)", based on the legal inference that most people are not criminals.Words and Phrases 1914, p. 1168 This referred not merely to the fact that the burden of proof rests on the prosecution in a criminal case, but the protections which a defendant should be given: prior notice of the accusation being made against them, the right of confrontation, right to counsel, etc.Innocent Until Proven Guilty: The Origins of a Legal Maxim Kenneth Pennington A Ennio Cortese (3 Volumes. Roma: Il Cigno Galileo Galilei Edizioni, 2001) It is literally considered favorable evidence for the accused that automatically attaches at trial.Coffin v. United States, "the presumption of innocence is evidence in favor of the accused, introduced by the law in [their] behalf" It requires that the trier of fact, be it a juror or judge, begin with the presumption that the state is unable to support its assertion. To ensure this legal protection is maintained, a set of three related rules govern the procedure of criminal trials. The presumption means:
With respect to the critical facts of the case—whether the crime charged was committed and whether the defendant was the person who committed the crime—the state has the entire burden of proof. With respect to the critical facts of the case, the defendant does not have any burden of proof whatsoever. The defendant does not have to testify, call witnesses or present any other evidence, and if the defendant elects not to testify or present evidence, this decision cannot be used against them. The jury or judge is not to draw any negative inferences from the fact the defendant has been charged with a crime and is present in court and represented by an attorney. They must decide the case solely on evidence presented during the trial.
Blackstone's ratio as expressed by the English jurist William Blackstone in his seminal work Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the 1760s, is the ratio between the error of impunity and error of wrongful convictions.
This duty on the prosecution was famously referred to as the "golden thread" in the criminal law by Lord Sankey LC in Woolmington v DPP:
Fundamental right This right is considered important enough in modern democracies, constitutional monarchies and republics that many have explicitly included it in their legal codes and constitutions:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11, states: "Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense." The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 14, paragraph 2 states that "Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law." The presumption of innocence is also expressly regulated in Art. 66 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, according to which "Everyone shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty before the Court in accordance with the applicable law."The Presumption of Guilt in the Investigation of Tax Evasion Crimes, Juridical Tribune, Vol. 8, Issue 1 (March 2018), p. 33. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe says (art. 6.2): "Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law." This convention has been adopted by treaty and is binding on all Council of Europe members. Currently (and in any foreseeable expansion of the EU) every country member of the European Union is also member to the Council of Europe, so this stands for EU members as a matter of course. Nevertheless, this assertion is iterated verbatim in Article 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In the UK, the presumption of innocence is provided for by section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which aims to incorporate the rights contained in the aforementioned European Convention on Human Rights. Articles 8 (1) and 8 (2) (right to a fair trial), in conjunction with Article 1 (1) (obligation to respect and ensure rights without discrimination), of the American Convention on Human Rights make the Inter-American Court to stress that "the presumption of innocence is a guiding principle in criminal trials and a foundational standard for the assessment of the evidence. Such assessment must be rational, objective, and impartial in order to disprove the presumption of innocence and generate certainty about criminal responsibility. ... The Court reiterated that, in criminal proceedings, the State bears the burden of proof. The accused is not obligated to affirmatively prove his innocence or to provide exculpatory evidence. To provide counterevidence or exculpatory evidence is a right that the defence may exercise in order to rebut the charges, which in turn the accusing party bears the burden of disproving".I/A Court H.R., Case of Zegarra Marín v. Peru. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 15, 2017. Series C No. 331: so, "the Court highlighted that to guarantee the presumption of innocence, especially as regards criminal conviction by trial, to reasoned judgment is imperative. It must state the sufficiency of the prosecution's evidence, observe the rules of sound judicial discretion in evaluating the evidence, including that which could generate doubt as to criminal responsibility, and lay out the final findings of the assessment of evidence. Only then can a trial court disprove the presumption of innocence and sustain a conviction beyond reasonable doubt. Where there is any doubt, the presumption of innocence and the principle of in dubio pro reo should play a decisive role in the judgment".