Rights of the Accused

• What are the rights of an accused person on this diagram?

  These rights are:

  A) To be presumed innocent.

  B) To full disclosure.

  C) Not to be witness.

  D) Plead excuses.

  E) Procedural rights.

  F) Background rights.

  
• Why are the rights of the accused so important?

  The accused has the state's power directed towards them and depends on the law's integrity to keep them safe from harm.
• What are the three principles of criminal liability?

  1. The right that none of us can be subject to the state's retributive power unless there is a law first.
  2. The right not to be punished unless we have committed a crime.
  3. An act does not make the doer guilty unless the mind is guilty.
• What does the first principle (the right that none of us can be subject to the state's retributive power unless there is a law first) of criminal liability do?

  Protects people from "in terrorem" and in that way empowers us to exercise our autonomy without fear of unforeseeable penal consequences.
• What does the second principle (the right not to be punished unless we have committed a crime) of criminal liability do?

  No punishment without a crime limits punishment that is provided by the law.
• What does the third principle (an act does not make the doer guilty unless the mind is guilty) of criminal liability?

  One is guilty by reason of one's own conduct and moral agency. moral responsibility is a condition of criminal liability. This makes guilt personal.
• Retributive Justice

  The practise of respecting the rights to autonomy of all and of respecting the right of those who culpably do harm to be made to suffer harm in return.

  1. Afford accused persons due respect of autonomy by limiting state's declaratory and retributive powers.
  2. When accused persons found guilty it affords them due respect by acknowledging and making good their right to be punished.