The criminal trial at common law takes seriously safeguards for the right of the accused Discuss with reference to the presumption of innocence and the privilege against self incrimination in common law.

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Q) The criminal trial at common law takes seriously safeguards for the right of the accused

Discuss with reference to the presumption of innocence and the privilege against self incrimination in common law.

The true course of justices never run smoothly, when a crime is committed the perpetrator is to be arrested and locked up. After all that's how it suppose to be. But for the right of the accused to be safeguarded, we need to ask the question, was the presumption of innocence and the privilege against self incrimination of the accused adhered to or put into consideration, giving room for due process.

Firstly, what is the presumption of innocence? This is a broad term and can be defined in different ways or manners. One simple definition is the innocence of the accused before proven guilty by a court of law. In further explanation, an accused is not guilty until he is tried a law court beyond reasonable doubt. According to Viscount Sankey in Woolmington v.DPP, he said "No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law