C O M P A R AT I V E S T U D Y CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE IN DUBIO PRO REO & THE STANDARD OF PROOF BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT MORAL VALUES BUILDING THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE An issue of general consent nowadays is that one of the main goals of the criminal justice is to avoid conviction of innocent persons. Convicting an innocent person would undermine the legitimacy of the criminal law itself, as it is morally unacceptable for the law to allow the innocent to suffer. Observing the system as a whole, this indeed makes sense. One need not elaborate in detail that criminal law encompasses grave limitations to human rights and liberties - not only as sanctions but also in the procedure itself. Therefore, the rhetoric of modern criminal law prioritises the protection of the innocent from wrongful conviction before the conviction of the guilty. However, nobody is actually claiming that it is better to have a hundred or a thousand guilty people set free, in order to avoid any possibility of convicting the innocent. Protecting the innocent from conviction is not, and cannot be, the only concern. Modern criminal procedure aims to reduce the risk of convicting the innocent, but, at the same time, is fully aware that public interest would not be served if only rules that impede efficient law enforcement are developed.245 Surely, a procedure that would eliminate all errors would satisfy both interests of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty, without generating conflict between the two. But is there really such a procedure? 245 See A. Sanders/ R. Young, Criminal Justice, 2nd edition, Butterworths, London, 2000, 10. 53