DISCUSSION ON THE EXISTENCE OF PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE PRINCIPLE IN CHINA ? A CASE STUDY OF THE INJUSTICE OF YANG NAIWU AND XIAOBAICAI IN QING DYNASTY

The tragedy of Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai in Qing Dynasty was resulted from the prevailing ideology of guilt presumption. The direct cause of the principle of guilt presumption is the limitation of human knowledge and the backwardness of science and technology, while the fundamental reason lies in the lack of the innocence presumption principle. As the criminal judicature principle is universal in the modern countries under the rule of law, the innocence presumption principle is conductive to avoiding miscarriages of justice, implementing the criminal justice and guaranteeing the basic human rights. Therefore, only by analyzing the connotation of innocence presumption principle, illuminating the distribution of burden of proof under the innocence presumption principle, and emphasizing the research on the basic system of innocence presumption can the modern criminal procedure system be gradually improved to achieve the dual purposes of punishing crimes and protecting human rights in China.