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Old 12th Apr 2018, 14:04
  #2161 (permalink)  
Easy Street
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
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The test in the criminal law is "the jury must be sure of guilt".
It's actually the prosecution must prove guilty beyond all doubt.
Even if there's 0.01% doubt then the accused must be acquitted.
Half right, and wrong. The criminal test is that guilt must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. What ‘reasonable’ means is deliberately not quantified; all we can say for sure is that it is stricter than ‘the balance of probabilities’ and less strict than ‘absolute certainty’. However I would observe that the criminal standard of proof is generally considered to be a very high one, tending towards the ‘certain’ end of the spectrum. ‘The jury must be sure’ is a formulation which guides laymen towards that without requiring 100% mathematical certainty.

Last edited by Easy Street; 12th Apr 2018 at 14:18.
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