EU Commission Issues Green Paper on Presumption of Innocence

On April 26, 2006, the Commission of the European Communities issued a paper on the presumption of innocence. The paper explains that the presumption of innocence is a fundamental right, contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU). Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides that the EU must respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the ECHR and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to Member States.