A-2 The Legal Maxim “an accused is innocent until proven guilty” and its Applications in Islamic Criminal Law and Criminal Law of Pakistan (A Conceptual and Applied Study)

Abstract

Al Qaidah al Fiqhiyah (Islamic Legal Maxim) is a collection of rules having the same ruling in different chapters but of a specific field of al Fiqh al Islami. (we will discuss latter with some detail about the concept of Qaidah and Dhabit). The Al Aslu Fe al Muttaham Baraahatoho (The accused is innocence until proven guilty) is one the basic principle and maxim of English Criminal Law and so of Pakistani Criminal Law. (a mixture of somehow Islamic and Common Law). This maxim is recognized by Sahriah but in a way that it could not became a shelter for professional criminals and trouble makers in the society because administration of criminal justice system of Islamic Law safeguards the right of accused, but not by putting the right of lives and property of others innocents in vain, so that they spent their lives while reaching about their rights in the hands of unknowns. this work focuses on the literal and technical meaning of the maxim, as well as significance of its consideration in the field of Islamic Criminal Law and also its applications in the field. The study will come with the proofs of the maxim from the verses of Quran and traditions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). After that it will bring out relevant cases from the Islamic Criminal Law along some of exceptional cases as well. The study will also deal with its relevance with Pakistani Criminal Law, highlighting the common areas of both in traditional Islamic Law and Criminal Justice System in Pakistan, and basic points of differences between them and its impacts while fulfilling the administration of justice.