The presumption of innocence in the system of legal presumptions

Abstract

The essence of the presumption of innocence does not consist in the fact that the accused, as a rule, is innocent, but it assumes that as long as we do not have a definitive sentence of conviction, there is no legally guilty person of committing the crime. The importance of this rule for the construction and democratic functioning of the criminal process, as well as for the defense of persons held criminally liable, is difficult to overestimate. The person’s guilt is not considered proven and he cannot be recognized as guilty of committing the crime and, respectively, subject to any restrictions on his rights, except for those related to the investigation of the criminal case, the grounds and order of application of which are strictly regulated by law. Introduction the presumption of innocence in the Code of Criminal Procedure as a general principle did not by itself remove all the deficiencies regarding the proper application of this principle in the practical activity of law enforcement bodies. This is not only due to the lack of desire of the participants in the process to comply with the rules derived from this principle, thus complicating the activity of research and discovery of crimes, but also due to reasons of improper perception, distorted of its essence. The correct understanding and interpretation of the essence and peculiarities of the presumption of innocence, the problems related to its application, is impossible without an incursion into the matter of legal presumptions and without determining the place of the presumption of innocence in their complex system.