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Nulla poena sine culpa (Latin for "no punishment without fault" or "no punishment without culpability") or the guilt principle is a legal principle requiring that one cannot be punished for something that they are not guilty of.
Not proven (Scots: No pruiven, Scottish Gaelic: gun dearbhadh [1]) is a verdict available to a court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty"). [2] [3]
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 ).
It is, of necessity, the condition of mind produced by the proof resulting from the evidence in the cause. It is the result of the proof, not the proof itself, whereas the presumption of innocence is one of the instruments of proof, going to bring about the proof from which reasonable doubt arises; thus one is a cause, the other an effect.
Over time, juries have tended to favour the "not guilty" verdict over "not proven" and so the interpretation has changed. The "not guilty" verdict has become the normal verdict when a jury is convinced of innocence, and the "not proven" verdict is used only if the jury is not certain of innocence or guilt. [citation needed]
In law, ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law excuses not"), [1] or ignorantia legis neminem excusat ("ignorance of law excuses no one"), [2] is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely by being unaware of its content.
An action is not given to one who is not injured. The requirement that in most private legal actions, the person bringing the action must have been damaged in some way. [2] Actus legis nemini facit injurium: The act of law injures no one. Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea: No act is punishable that is not the result of a guilty mind.
In criminal law, actus reus (/ ˈ æ k t ə s ˈ r eɪ ə s /; pl.: actus rei), Latin for "guilty act", is one of the elements normally required to prove commission of a crime in common law jurisdictions, the other being Latin: mens rea ("guilty mind"). In the United States, it is sometimes called the external element or the objective element ...