PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE - A CRITERION FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

This article focuses on the presumption of innocence as a yardstick for measuring legal system institutions’ maturity. The purpose of the research is not only analysis of practical implementation mechanisms of this principle in the system of law applied in the Republic of Uzbekistan but also discovering its influence at all stages of realization process – fr om pre-trial stage and before revisional instance as well. Special emphasis is placed on the new provision (as of 2023) 94 concerning the presumption of innocence, which has been re-formulated with three different forms: as a procedural principle, an evidentiary rule and a rule against public communication. The research verifies the direct connection of the legal phenomenon “the admissibility of evidence” to such a publicly significant institution as the presumption of innocence and describes its impact on extraprocedural institutions (administrative detention, operative-search activities, punishment). The author believes that the complete implementation of the presumption of innocence is determined by not only a normative side but also by professional legal consciousness of law enforcement officers.