Published: 2022-12-28

Substantive scope of the in dubio pro reo rule, i.e. the possibility of deciding in favour of the accused irresolvable legal doubts (comprehensive analysis)

Bartosz Łukowiak Logo ORCID

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the question of the substantive scope of the in dubio pro reo rule, i.e. the determination of a decades-long dispute whether the order to decide irresolvable doubts in favour of the accused, as expressed in Article 5 (2) of Polish Code of Criminal Procedure, also concerns legal matters, or whether it should only be used to clarify factual doubts. This article is a first comprehensive analysis of this issue. It sets out all the arguments put forward so far for each of the opposing views, as well as a number of own arguments which have not yet been taken into account. The first part of the text examines, inter alia, the legal nature of the in dubio pro reo directive, in particular its relationship with the presumption of innocence. The following section examines, inter alia, the impact of successive changes in criminal procedural law on solving the problem of the scope of the rule in question and compares the directive with similar rules in other fields of law.

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Citation rules

Łukowiak, B. (2022). Substantive scope of the in dubio pro reo rule, i.e. the possibility of deciding in favour of the accused irresolvable legal doubts (comprehensive analysis). Problemy Prawa Karnego, 6(2), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.31261/PPK.2022.06.02.01

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Vol. 6 No. 2 (2022)
Published: 2023-09-15


ISSN: 0208-5577
eISSN: 2353-9712
Ikona DOI 10.31261/PPK

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

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