Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Presumption of innocence
Presumption of innocence is an essential right that the accused
enjoys in criminal trials in all countries respecting human
rights. It states that the accused is presumed to be innocent
until it has been declared guilty by a court. The burden of
proof is thus on the prosecution, which has to convince the
court of the guilt of the accused. Conversely, in many
authoritarian regimes, the prosecution case is, in practice,
believed by default unless the accused can prove he is innocent
— presumption of guilt. A fundamental right This right is so
important in modern democracies that many have explicitly
included it in their legal codes and constitutions: - In France,
article 9 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen, of constitutional value, says "Every man is supposed
innocent until having been declared guilty." and the preliminary
article of the code of criminal procedure says "any suspected or
prosecuted person is presumed to be innoce