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Presumption Of Innocence Essay

763 Words4 Pages

The presumption of innocence is an important component of the criminal law system. When a person is charged with a criminal offence the law regards the alleged offender as innocent until proved guilty. In other words, the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is indeed guilty of the crime alleged. This position however, is somewhat different when persons are suspected of money laundering and terrorist financing offences. To say then, that the cardinal freedom of an individual (in this case the customer of a bank) to be presumed innocent until proved guilty is blown away by the enforcement of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing legislations in the Commonwealth Caribbean is true to a great extent. This is due to the element of “reasonable suspicion” included in the wording of these types of …show more content…

These crimes of money laundering and terrorist financing can both be classified as serious crimes and as such in enforcing legislation with measures in place for anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing, most Commonwealth Caribbean territories see the significance in raising issues with regard to prevention, detection and prosecution. This discussion will provide an understanding on the extent to which the presumption of innocence is blown away or in other words to what extent legislation places the burden of proof on a defendant accused of money laundering and terrorist financing offences. Also, some insight will be provided on the rationale(s) for denying or providing a remedy to such an individual where it can be demonstrated that her right to innocence until proved guilty has been violated.
Before delving into a discussion on the applicability of the presumption of innocence principle to anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing legislations in Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions, it is important

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