Issue: № 10, 2025
Doi: https://doi.org/10.37634/efp.2025.10.8
The paper examines the legal nature and practical implementation of the duty of pre-trial investigation bodies to prove a person’s innocence on an equal basis with guilt as a manifestation of the presumption of innocence principle. The author analyzes the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, highlighting conceptual and sectoral problems in law enforcement practice. Particular attention is paid to the risks of a prosecutorial bias that arises when investigators and prosecutors focus exclusively on gathering evidence of guilt while ignoring exculpatory circumstances. The paper substantiates that such an approach contradicts the purpose of criminal proceedings and violates the balance between the parties to the process. It is argued that the presumption of innocence imposes a positive obligation on investigators and prosecutors to ensure an objective and comprehensive collection of all evidence, including that which may indicate the absence of guilt. The author proposes mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of this duty through strengthening judicial control over the completeness and impartiality of the pre-trial investigation and introducing an additional ground for disqualifying investigators or prosecutors who deliberately disregard exculpatory evidence. These measures are expected to enhance compliance with international fair trial standards and ensure genuine implementation of the presumption of innocence in the criminal justice system of Ukraine.
Keywords : presumption of innocence, pre-trial investigation, evidence, prosecution, exculpatory evidence, judicial control, prosecutorial bias
References:
1. Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine: Law of Ukraine of April 13, 2012 No. 4651-VI. Bulletin of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 2013. No. 9–10, No. 11–12, No. 13. Art. 88. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/4651-17#Text (in Ukrainian).
2. Halahan O.I. The concept and system of principles of criminal proceedings. Scientific Bulletin of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. 2013. No. 4. pp. 167–172. (in Ukrainian).
3. Koshel V.V., Pavlov R.V. Modern aspects of the presumption of innocence and ensuring proof of guilt as a principle of criminal proceedings. Young Scientist. 2018. No. 11 (63). pp. 114–117. (in Ukrainian).
4. Loboiko L.M. The principle of dispositiveness in the criminal procedure of Ukraine: monograph. Donetsk: Law Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 2004. 216 p. (in Ukrainian)
5. Tertyshnyk V.M. Rule of law and ensuring the establishment of truth in the criminal procedure of Ukraine: monograph. Dnipropetrovsk, 2009. 404 p. (in Ukrainian)
6. Actual problems of state-building, law-making and law enforcement: materials of the All-Ukrainian scientific and practical conference (Dnipro, 5 December 2024). Dnipro, 2025. P. 323. (in Ukrainian)
7. Barbera, Messegue and Jabardo v. Spain: Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, 6 December 1988, Application No. 10590/83, § 77. URL: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-57429
8. Aidaric v. Croatia: Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, 15 December 2011, Application No. 7177/06, § 51. URL: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-107989
9. Melich and Beck v. the Czech Republic: Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, 24 July 2008, Application No. 35450/05, §§ 49–55. URL: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-87829
10. Batiashvili v. Georgia: Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, 10. October 2019, Application No. 8284/07, § 79. URL: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-196374