The Role of the Public Prosecution in the Adversarial System of Criminal Procedure and the Standard of Proof "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"
The Role of the Public Prosecution in the Adversarial System of Criminal Procedure and the Standard of Proof "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"

Summary/Abstract: The role of the prosecution is one of the features of the new adversarial system of criminal procedure and this role is a particularly changed role. The prosecution is expected to be the managing body during the investigative procedure in relation to other bodies with investigative powers, and during the procedure to be an active party whose main obligation is to prove the guilt. The Prosecutor's Office has a burden of proving guilt and an obligation to find, propose and produce evidence that the defendant's guilt is proven beyond any reasonable doubt. The public prosecutor's office must prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt to which the defendant charges him. The evidence beyond reasonable doubt does not imply proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Possible suspicions or suspicions based solely on speculation are not reasonable suspicions. Reasonable doubt is based on reason and common sense. This may arise from the evidence, the lack of evidence or the nature of the evidence. From the point of view of the professional ethics of the prosecutors, it is especially important that they present the case in order to help the court to reach a fair verdict, and not to present the case to a conviction. The domestic Criminal procedure law (Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Macedonia-CPL) goes a step further by introducing the standard, in Article 403, that the prosecution shall prove the guilt beyond reasonable doubt, without giving any further definition. Unfortunately, the domestic CPL does not offer different terminologies for these two types of suspicion. The Law uses the term “suspicion” when it refers to the required level of suspicion that a person has committed the crime so that certain investigative measures, restrictions or charges can be undertaken or pressed against him/her, it also refers to the application of the principle of in dubio pro reo and the standard that the guilt shall be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

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