CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ THE PRINCIPLE OF THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE IN THE EUROPEAN… the truth, the best and most credible proof (so-called probatio probationum ). Through such plea of guilty the accused person got engaged in favour of prosecution and signed under the truth of investigation. A significant change was only brought by social changes in the spirit of the Enlightenment ideas (Hobbes, Wolff, Beccaria, Monreau, von Humbodt), liberalism and emphasis on human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in a systemic way by introduction of elements of prosecution criminal trials. The first mention about presumption of innocence is found in the Magna Charta Libertatum of 1215. The presumption of innocence principle was expressed already in Art. 9 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) which stated that “Every man is presumed innocent until he has been found guilty; if it is considered indispensable to arrest him, any severity not necessary to secure his person must be strictly repressed by law.” 7 According to Štěpán, however, this article was not considered as a source of law, but rather a historical and cultural matter of interest instead. 8 In the past, especially in the 1960s, extraordinary attention was paid to this principle, which is confirmed by Bystřina, 9 Růžek, 10 Císařová 11 or Lachout. 12 Normative grounds and European and international context The presumption of innocence principle is currently a leading principle of criminal proceedings in terms of both national and international laws. Although its exercise by application practice does not state any insufficiencies, its application in the media environment seems to be problematic. 13 In the case of media news on criminal matters, two fundamental rights are in a conflict, namely the right to a fair trial of the person charged and the press right to collect and disseminate information on a trial which is underway. 14 With regard to importance of this principle some states regulate it at the constitutional level as well. 15 The presumption of innocence directly follows up to the constitutional principle stating that only the court 7 The formulation of this Article is based on the proposal of Deputy Duport, who followed the objective of humanisation of the regime of detention. 8 ŠTĚPÁN, Jan. K právu obviněného odepřít výpověď. (in English “The right of the accused to deny denunciation”) In: MUSIL, Jan, VANDUCHOVÁ, Marie (eds.). Pocta prof. JUDr. Otovi Novotnému k 70. narozeninám. (“Tribute to prof. JUDr. Otto Novotný for the 70th birthday”) Prague: CODEX Bohemia, 1998, p. 237. 9 BYSTŘINA, Ivan. Presumpce neviny v soc. právu (“Presumption of innocence in socialist law”). Stát a právo , 1965, no. 10. 10 RŮŽEK, Antonín. Několik poznámek k zásadě presumpce neviny. (“Several notes on the principle of the presumption of innocence”). Právník , 1966, no. 5. 11 CÍSAŘOVÁ, Dagmar. Princip presumpce neviny. (“Principle of the presumption of innocence”). Stát a právo , 1965, no. 10 12 LACHOUT, Václav. K pojetí presumpce neviny. (“To conjecture of the presumption of innocence”). Právník , 1967, no. 6. 13 HERCZEG, Jiří. Média a trestní řízení . (“Media and criminal proceedings”). Prague: Leges, 2013, p. 133. 14 HERCZEG, Jiří. Vliv medializace trestního stíhání na odpovědnost státu za dodržení spravedlivého procesu. (“Influence of the mediation of criminal prosecution on the responsibility of the state for the observance of a fair trial”). Trestní právo , 2017, no. 3, p. 4. 15 This group includes, besides the Czech Republic (Art. 40(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms) or the Slovak Republic (Art. 50(2)), e.g. Italy (Art. 27(2)), Portugal (Art. 32(2)), Spain (Art. 24), Poland (Art. 42(3)), Estonia (Art. 22), Lithuania (Art. 31(1)), Latvia (Art. 92) or France (Art. 9 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen). In other countries it is either regulated by ordinary laws, or it is formulated by judge-made law (Denmark) or it is even understood as an unwritten but binding principle (Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium). 3.

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