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Chapter v
Right
to be Presumed Innocent and
Privilege against Self-Incrimination
Article 14 of the ICCPR
“(2) Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent
until proved guilty according to law.
“(3) In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to
the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
“(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.”
Article 6(2) of the ECHR
“(2) Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty
according to law.”
OSCE Commitments
(5) The participating States solemnly declare that among those elements of justice which are
essential to the full expression of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all human beings are the following:
(5.19) – everyone will be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension
of the CSCE, Copenhagen 1990.
The right to be presumed innocent is encapsulated within Article 14(2) of the ICCPR and
Article 6(2) of the ECHR, which speak of the right to be “presumed innocent until proved
guilty according to law” (See also 5.1).342 The presumption finds protection not just within
these provisions of the ICCPR and ECHR, but is also supplemented by rights that reinforce
342 Article 11(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly
under its resolution 217 (III) of 10 December 1948, also guarantees that: “Everyone charged with a penal
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