On The Principle Of Presumption Of Innocence In Criminal Procedure

Presumption of innocence principle is an important criminal suit principle and commonly used in the world. It was put down formly and clearly as No. 2 of Item 14 in "United Nations Citizen Rights Convention" . China signed the Convention and made an initial confirmation of the principle when the code of criminal procedure was revised in 1996. In comparison with cases in foreign countries,we are more reserve in legislation and less perfect in judicature,fainess and reasonability of our criminal suit procedure, therefore, are limited. The theoretical study of the principle has immediate and practical significance because it will perfect the embodiment of the principle in our code of criminal procedure and promote the construction of democracy and "rule - by - law" in China.This article is comprised of five parts.Part One looks at the historical development of the principle both in China and in Western countries. As a theory law,it originated in the period of enlightenment and was first pointed out by Beccaria,an Italian jurist. French "Human Rights Declaration"in 1798 confirmed the principle lawfully for the first time. In China, it developed slowly and was confirmed initially by "Code of Criminal Procedure of People's Republic of China"m 1996.Part Two expounds the content system of the principle as it should be. In the writer's opinion,Presumption of innocence should be stated "Everyone is innocent before he is proved and pronounced guilty,Its extended meanings include, (1)The defendant is the main part and has qualifications in lawsuit. (2)The accusing party has the responsibility to offer evidence. (3)The priviledge against selfincrimination and Right tosilence are considered. (4) The suspect without evidence should be regarded as innocent.Part Three discusses the principle's values in criminal suit procedure - fair value,free value,democratic value and human rights value. On one hand, the principle can protect the freedom and human rights of the suspect and the defendant. On the other hand, when the affirmative values are pursued,some negative values exist such as big cost and low efficiency in lawsuit,low detection rate and some hurt on the victim's right.Part Four talks about the implement of the principle in China' s code of criminal procedure,based on criminal suit theory and real criminal judicature. China' s present code of criminal procedure has initially confirmed presumption of innocence principle which is mainly embodied by Item 12 and a series of modifications of the original one: (l)The lawyer interfere with the criminal case earlier. (2)Forbid detention. (3)Abolish the rule free of suing. (4) Reform judicial procedure and do away with sentenfce before trial. (5)The suspect without any evidence should be regarded as innocent,which indicates the progress of democracy and rule-by - law in China.Part Five discusses further the gap between presumption of innocence and China's criminal legislation,criminal policy,criminal judicature and Chinese's legal consciousness,on the basis of which the writer points out that it is a good method to combine foreign countries good experience with China' s practical situation so as to perfect the embodiment of the principle in Chinese criminal law. And the most important thing is to establish the principle's constitutional position.