The page of Egidio Bossi's treatise containing the words ″in dubio pro reo″

The principle of in dubio pro reo (Latin for "[when] in doubt, rule for the accused")[1][2] means that a defendant may not be convicted by the court when doubts about their guilt remain.

The rule of lenity is the doctrine that ambiguity should be resolved in favour of the more lenient punishment.[3]

To resolve all doubts in favour of the accused is in consonance with the principle of presumption of innocence.[3]

Origin

The main principle in the sentence was part of Aristotle's interpretation of the law and shaped the Roman law: Favorabiliores rei potius quam actores habentur (Digest of Justinian I, D.50.17.125),[4] meaning "The condition of the defendant is to be favored rather than that of the plaintiff."[5] However, the phrase was not spelled out word for word until the Milanese jurist Egidio Bossi (1487–1546) related it in his treatises.

National peculiarities

In German law, the principle is not normalized but has constitutional status and is derived from Article 103(2) of the Basic Law, Article 6 of the ECHR, and Section 261 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The common use of the phrase in the German legal tradition was documented in 1631 by Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld.

In Canadian law, the leading case establishing how to decide criminal cases where the guilt of the accused depends on contradictory witness accounts is R. v. W.(D.) (1991).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Beard, Henry (2004-08-19). Latin for All Occasions: From Cocktail-Party Banter to Climbing the Corporate Ladder to Online Dating-- Everything You'll Ever Need to Say in Perfect Latin. Avery. ISBN 978-1592400805.
  2. ↑ Henry Beard (2008-06-01). "Famous Latin Proverbs and Sayings". Latin for All Occasions. Archived from the original on 2013-07-18.
  3. 1 2 Corona, J. "G.R. No. 173473 – PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES versus BETH TEMPORADA". Republic of the Philippines: SUPREME COURT Manila. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  4. ↑ "OMINI NOSTRI SACRATISSIMI PRINCIPIS IUSTINIANI IURIS ENUCLEATI EX OMNI VETERE IURE COLLECTI DIGESTORUM SEU PANDECTARUM" (in Latin). The Latin Library. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  5. ↑ "defendant". Academic: Law dictionary. 2017. Retrieved 2018-10-21.


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