There are many different things that can happen in court, depending on the type of case. There are, however, some basic principles and rules that apply to all courts and criminal procedures:

Presumption of innocence

A person charged with a criminal offence is innocent until proven guilty. This is an essential principle of our criminal justice system.

Proof beyond reasonable doubt

For a person to be convicted of a crime, the magistrate, judge or jury has to be satisfied 'beyond reasonable doubt'
that the accused committed the crime. This is called the burden of proof. The prosecution is said to carry the
burden of proof, which means it is up to them to establish that the accused committed the crime. The prosecution
must prove a person’s guilt.

If there are a number of different charges then each charge must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Right to remain silent

There is a long-standing principle of law that an accused person has the right to remain silent. This principle
protects a person from self-incrimination. The defence does not have to prove the accused is innocent. In
practice, most accused persons give evidence or call other evidence as part of their case.

Rules of evidence

These rules have been made by the courts and Parliament to make sure that criminal cases are conducted fairly
and without bias. They say what evidence is allowed to be given and how it may be given. They are too
complicated to explain in detail. The main thing to know is that witnesses can only give evidence about what they
actually heard, saw or experienced.

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