REFLECTION ON THE EU DIRECTIVE ON THE STRENGTHENING OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE AND OF THE RIGHT TO BE PRESENT AT THE TRIAL IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The authors of this paper reflect on the EU Directive 2016/343 on the strengthening of certain
aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal
proceedings and its impact on the Macedonian criminal procedure system. The presumption of
innocence is settled by the ECtHR jurisprudence as one of the basic standards that lie in the heart
of the fair trial concept. The article discusses the issue of public references to quilt and the
obligation of the Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that, for as long as a
suspect or an accused person has not been proved guilty according to law, public statements made
by public authorities, and judicial decisions, other than those on guilt, do not refer to that person
as being guilty. Also, there is the question of the burden of proof for establishing the guilt of
suspects and accused persons, and the requirement that it lies on the prosecution. At the same time,
the right to remain silent and not to incriminate oneself, specifically closely related to the
presumption of innocence, opens the question about the drawing of adverse inferences when the
defendant remains silent or fails to answer a certain question. Notwithstanding the fact that the
Court asserts these rights as fundamental, in a number of rulings it becomes clear that they can be
restricted and that they are not treated as an absolute.