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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 ).
Istishab, an initiative of ash-Shafii, [4] is the rationalistic principle of extracting a legal solution according to which changes are not considered to occur until clear signs of these changes are apparent. It serves as the basis for many legal rulings such as the presumption of innocence—the person is regarded as innocent unless proven guilty.
Although he was found guilty, he was pardoned, as the law had been changed while he was at sea. [ 8 ] Although ignorance of the law, like other mistakes of law , is not a defence, a mistake of fact may well be, depending on the circumstances: that is, the false but sincerely held belief in a factual state of affairs which, had it been the case ...
Jury nullification may also occur in civil suits, in which the verdict is generally a finding of liability or lack of liability (rather than a finding of guilty or not guilty). [ 22 ] The main ethical issue involved in jury nullification is the tension between democratic self-government and integrity. [ 23 ]
Nowadays, juries can return a verdict of either "not guilty" or "not proven", with the same legal effect of acquittal. [6] Although historically it may be a similar verdict to not guilty, in the present day not proven is typically used by a jury when there is a belief that the defendant is guilty but The Crown has not provided sufficient ...
Schlup also argued that he was actually innocent—not because that was a substantive ground for relief, but because his actual innocence excused his failure to raise his ineffective-counsel and prosecutorial-nondisclosure claims in his state court pleadings and in his first federal habeas petition.
In Director of Public Prosecutions v.Labavarde and Anor, Neerunjun C.J. said that article 11(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 6(2) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms would be infringed if "the whole burden is ... cast on the defence by the creation of a presumption of guilt on the mere preferment of the criminal charge".
A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by judge in which the defendant is found guilty. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is considered an acquittal ...