Presumption of innocence

The legal principle that an accused person is treated as innocent unless guilt is established through a fair process under the applicable standard of proof.

Burden of proof: The obligation to establish a claim or fact in a legal proceeding. The prosecution generally bears the burden of proving the accused person’s guilt.
Roman law: The legal system developed in ancient Rome and later adapted across much of Europe. Roman legal traditions supplied early ideas about accusation, proof, and judgment.
Jury instructions: Directions from a judge explaining the law jurors must apply when deciding a case. Instructions commonly tell jurors that charges and accusations are not evidence of guilt.
Presumption of guilt: A rule or assumption that treats a person as guilty unless they establish otherwise. It reverses the starting point that the presumption of innocence requires.
Beyond a reasonable doubt: The high standard of proof required for conviction in criminal cases in many legal systems. It expresses how strong the evidence must be before the presumption can be overcome.
English common law: A legal tradition developed through court decisions and customary practice in England. Common-law procedure helped shape the principle’s development in criminal trials.
Pretrial publicity: Media coverage of a criminal case before its trial or verdict. Public coverage can portray an accused person as guilty before evidence is tested in court.
In dubio pro reo: The principle that unresolved doubt in a criminal case should be resolved in favor of the accused. It gives a practical direction for deciding cases when evidence does not establish guilt.
Reasonable doubt: A doubt grounded in reason and evidence that prevents a fact-finder from being firmly convinced of guilt. A reasonable doubt requires acquittal rather than a guess about guilt.
Coke's Institutes: Edward Coke’s seventeenth-century works on English law, including the Institutes of the Laws of England. Coke’s writings are associated with the influential maxim that it is better to acquit the guilty than condemn the innocent.

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