Sadržaj međunarodnih i europskih standarda presumpcije nedužnosti s osvrtom na Republiku Hrvatsku

Abstract

The presumption of the defendant’s innocence is one of the fundamental principles of modern criminal procedure. It could be argued that there is no person who, regardless of the level of education and profession, has never heard of the maxim of criminal procedure according to which everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. Despite the general „popularization“ of the presumption of innocence, many legal scholars and practitioners would recoil to define its content and legal nature. After the introductory considerations, the paper analyzes the legislative history of the presumption of innocence in former Yugoslavian and Croatian legislation and the understanding of its legal nature. Furthermore, the content of the right to presumption of innocence is examined in international legal sources, primarily the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as well as in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, and subsequently in the European Union law. The latter includes the normative codification of the presumption of innocence, which was implemented at the EU level by the adoption of Directive 2016/343 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings. The presumption of innocence is also analyzed from the viewpoint of the Croatian normative framework and case law. The last part of the paper contains concluding remarks.