Basic Rights
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Basic Rights
Currently in all countries with a democratic system and the rule of law Criminal Procedure puts the burden of proof on the prosecution – that is it is up to the prosecution to prove that the defendant is guilty as opposed to having the defendant prove that he is innocent; any doubt is resolved in favor of the defendant. This provision known as the Presumption of Innocence may in practice operate somewhat differently in different countries.
Similarly all such jurisdictions allow the defendant the right of a counsel and provide defendants that cannot afford to have their own lawyer some lawyer at the public expense (which is in some countries called a "court-appointed lawyer"). Again the efficiency of this system depends greatly on the jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions the lawyers provided to indigent defendants are often overworked or incompetent or may not take much interest in the cases they have to defend.