states: "Any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed
innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an
independent and impartial tribunal".
In France, Article 9 of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
value, says: “Everyone is supposed innocent
until having been declared guilty.” In a similar vein the preliminary article of the
code of criminal procedure
says “any suspected or prosecuted person is
presumed to be innocent until their guilt has been established”. In addition to
these pronouncements, the oath taken by jurors' oath reiterates this notion.
While there is no explicit statement of the presumption of innocence in the
Constitution of the United States it is widely held to be embedded in the 5th,
and 14th
amendments
to the Constitution.
652
Article 11
of the United
asserts the presumption in
the following way: “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be
presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial
at
which they have had all the guarantees necessary for their defence.”
Diagrams
To conclude this account the text summarises the rules for proving criminal
cases with brief comments and diagrams.
Proof of the Initiator’s Case
Here are the rules for the starting point and finishing point:
(1)
Rule 1. Starting Point. The needle starts at 0% on the initiator’s scale
and 100% on the responder’s scale.
(2)
Rule 2. Finishing Point:
(i)
Initiator Wins. The needle must finish at least at 99% on the
initiator’s scale, which is also 1% on the responder’s scale.
(i)
Responder Wins. The needle must finish at least at 2% on the
initiator’s scale, which is also 98% on the responder’s scale.
These rules can be represented on a diagram by highlighting the starting and
finishing points in bold:
Start
Finish:
Responder
Finish:
Initiator
Initiator’s
Scale
0%
98%
99%
100%
100%
2%
1%
0%
Responder’s
Scale
Total
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Total
Figure 25.2 Proof in Criminal Cases
652
See, for example, Coffin v United States 156 US 432, 433 (1895).
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