Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! In today’s post, I’ll be researching my first sub-question to help answer my question: how does the concept of innocent until proven guilty protect individuals in the legal system?
My first sub-question is what exactly is the concept of innocent until proven guilty?
The presumption of innocence states that any person accused of a crime is innocent of that crime until something or someone proves them guilty. (1) This is what is more well known as the concept of innocent until proven guilty. (7) This is also a fundamental principle of the right to a fair trial. (2) Any person charged with an offence has the right to be considered innocent until they are proven guilty. (3) People should not be coerced into confessing their crime. (2) The presumption of innocence is guaranteed under Canadian law, but interestingly enough, it is not guaranteed under the US constitution. (5) The opposite of this system is the presumption of guilt, but it is less commonly used. (1) A judge’s instructions to a jury must clearly communicate how the presumption of innocence must guide their decisions regarding the case. (6)
Presumption of innocence was introduced in Roman criminal law. (1) This concept shields the individual from the power and bias of the government. Therefore, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime. (5) Proof must be shown for every single aspect of the crime. (5) By utilizing this concept, we can prevent against wrong and unjust convictions. (4) The consequences of wrong convictions are devastating to an individual. (5) If there is reasonable doubt, the accused must be given the benefit of the doubt. (2) This concept impacts every aspect of the legal process. (6)
This concept is an important principle in the Canadian legal system, (7) and protects against wrongful conviction. (7)
2. https://www.fairtrials.org/the-right-to-a-fair-trial/the-presumption-of-innocence/
3. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art11.html
5. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/presumption_of_innocence
6. https://www.kruselaw.ca/library/presumption-of-innocence-in-canadian-law-kruse-law/
7. https://lawlessons.ca/legal-dictionary/innocent-until-proven-guilty
Hi Aniiela!
I was very excited read your blog post when I saw as I found your inquiry question about law very thought provoking and interesting. I liked how you introduced the first round of research and set a foundation about the concept of innocent until proven guilty. I find the study of law quite intriguing and am glad to have read your blog post. I agree that this principle is very important in ensuring everyone gets a fair trial and has the chance to lay out the evidence. This is an important concept to research about and spread awareness on because the of it’s integration in every legal system. It would be great to see some example cases where this concept has been of significant use or even where this concept first emerged as “innocent until proven guilty” was not always the case. Anyways, you have a great amount of information ahead of you and thorough sub questions. Keep up the good work!
– Vea 🙂
Hello Aniela,
I really enjoyed your blog post! I enjoyed how you delved into the history of this law, and how it was made. I liked how you icluded where you obtained each bit of information and cited many many sources. I think that adressing law is a very good subject for an inquiry question as it has many different aspects and facets to it. I believe that your blog post was very well made and had little problems. One tiny thing you could change is to add more informational pictures to better show visually what you are wording. Other than that, great blog post!
https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/principles/presumption-of-innocence/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC526264/
-Frederick Han