28 May 2020
What exactly is meant by ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and how should a judge direct a jury?
Michael Zander QC, NLJ columnist & Emeritus Professor, LSE considers what
different groups of people believe is required to secure a conviction,
following inaccurate stories in the press that judges had been urged to stop
using the phrase ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ because it confused jurors.
‘One could say that sure has to mean 100%,’ he writes. ‘Anything less than 100% by definition means one has doubts.’
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