guitly until proven innocent

[Sroundtable@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 1/14/2003 5:24:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, TheWho-Digest-Owner@igtc.com writes:

> I hope you're a better teacher than this mistake suggests - the judicial process 
> in the UK is INNOCENT until proven GUILTY.
> 
> The tabloids are not the judicial system. It may not seem 
> like it but it is.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> John

In the textbooks I have read on the subject and discussions I have had with several British citizens, the guilty until proven innocent policy in the UK justice system exists.  I think what I should have stated, however, is that the term is very hyper-simplified, and that it isn't "guilty until proven innocent" as many of us might think.  It isn't, for example, the exact opposite of criminal justice in the U.S.  However, the very fact that a person can be arrested without being charged for a crime is, in itself, a presumption of guilt prior to due process of law.  Perhaps once the official charge is made, the system in the UK operates according to the innocent until proven guilty belief.  I apologize for making my earlier statement without expanding its explanation.

mc