Is the Presumption of Innocence Under Attack?

• Author: Matthew R Gourlay
• Pages: 447-463



IsthePresumptionofInnocence

UnderAack

MahewRGourlay*

Thet itleof this chapter posesa question Since this isnot intendedto

beasuspensenovelIwi llgoaheadandan sweritrightothetopThe

answertothequestionisyes

Butthisis alsotr uethepresumption ofinnocence isalmost always

underaackA ndthati sunlikelytoc hangeWhat variesovert ime

andwhatreallymaersisourresolvetodefendit

Myv iewis t hat wei n the legal community are well eq uipped to

resist direct challenges to the presumption of innoc ence that come in

theformoflegislationreverseonusesrequirementsfordefencedisclo

sureevidentiaryshortcutstobenettheCrownandsoonThesehave

allbeen triedatd ierenttimes bydierentgovernments andmanyof

themcert ainlythe mostegregiousamongt hemhavebeen beaten

backbyCharterchallengesinthecourtsT hedoctrineowingfromsec

tionsandoftheCharterthemostimportant fairtrial protections

isrobustIamoptimistict hatitwillcontinuetobeequaltothetask

I believe that the more insidious challenges to t he presumption

of innocence do not necessarily cr ystallize in legislation They come

from civil society a nd are more concerned with changing aitudes

than changing thelawThe sloganb elievethe victimi sthe mostre

centman ifestation ofth isphenomenon There havebeen many others

throughout Canadian history as dierent perceived threats captu red

the public imagination and dierent moral panics h ave taken hold

 PartnerHeneinHutchi sonLLP

MRG

Althought hepresumpt ionof innocence today enjoysenough cultural

prestigetobe mostlysafef romexplic itrepudiationtheextentto which

itretainsitsintegrityasagenuinebulwarkagainstwrongf ulconviction

isreallyuptous

ATH E G O LDE N T H R E A D A N D T H E

BLACKSTONE FORMULA

The presumption of innocence ca ntreally be considered in isolation

fromtheothercoreprotectionsgra ntedbyCanadianlawtoanaccused

Afterallt hepresumptionwouldntmeanmuchifitwereaccompanied

byaburden ofproofset onlyatabalanceofprobabilities Inthat scen

ariojustaboutanyevidence fro mthe Crow nmig htbesuc ient tomove

thescalepastthepercentmarka ndcastafunctional burdenofprov

inginnocencebackontotheaccusedSoIagreewithDicksonCJthat

ThepresumptionofinnocencehasatleastthreecomponentsFirstan

individualmustbe provenguilty beyondareasonabledoubt Second

theCrown mustbear theonus ofproof Thirdc riminal prosecutions

mustbe carr iedout in accordance with lawful procedures andpr in

ciplesoffairness

Thesestra ndscombine toproducewhatLord Sankey inWoolmington v

Director of Public Prosecutionsfamou slyc al led th egoldent hr ead ofE ng

lishcriminallawWhenI use theter mpresumption ofin nocenceI

willbereferringtothiswholepackage

ThemainrationaleusuallygivenforfosteringLordSankeysgolden

thread is some versionof Blackstonesdict um that itis beer that

ten guilty person s escape than that one innocent suer The precise

numericalqua nticationof this ratiohas longbeen amaer ofdebate

whynott wenty orahund redButrega rdles sthe underly ingt heor y

thatwecalibratethesystem toerrinthe accusedsfavourisboththe

 R v WhyteSCRatpara

 ACatHL

 WilliamBlackst oneCommentaries on the Laws of EnglandBookIVch

 ApparentlyBenjaminFrank linthoughtth eappropriateratiowasonehundre dto

onewhilethedist inguishedj udgeHenryFriendlycagi lyproposedthatitisbeer

toallowaconside rable numberofguilt ypersonstogofre ethantoconvictany ap precia-

ble numberofin nocentmenBotharequotedi nanentertai ningartic lebyAlexander

VolokhnGuiltyMenUniversity of Pennsylvania Law Revie w