Can I ask a question guys?
Does anyone know if the presumption of innocence under the law is the same in Portugal as it is under English Law? 8-)(--)
I ask because much has been said about the parents having to prove their innocence yet this is not required under English Law. Could it be that this issue is more of a moral dilemma rather than a legal one?
Hi John.
Allow me to shed some light on it. The AG report appears to throw up a huge contradiction in that it states there was no evidence to show the McCann's had committed a crime BUT they had failed to prove their innocence.
This was also backed up by the Assistant Chief Constable of Leicestershire's declaration in open court in the UK in relation to the Mccann's attempts to gain access to the LP's files on the McCann's where he said that whilst one or both of them may be innocent there is no clear evidence to rule them out of involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.
Not one of the McCann supporters on here has ever attempted to explain how this apparent contradiction can exist.
In reality it is simple.
The AG report was written by a civil servant with none of the judicial powers of a court or judge. Only a court can determine if someone is innocent or guilty of a crime they are accused of.
Now DaveL has attempted to explain this by saying the AG report was written by "an idiot".
Clearly that is not the case, you don't get to be a Public Prosecutor or the AG of Portugal by being "an idiot".
So there must be some basis and standing for these seemingly contradictory statements to co-exist.
So on the understanding that the AG report was referencing a police investigation what can it mean?
First of all is important to state that in the AG report it was said there was no evidence of a crime being committed by the McCann's.
However it also said that the investigation was incomplete.
It said it was incomplete because of the refusal of the group to take part in the reconstruction.
So in essence what we have is no evidence found in an incomplete police investigation. That does not mean that this is a definitive and final exoneration of the McCann's, it means that in the evidence they had gathered in an incomplete investigation they determined there was no evidence of the McCann's being involved.
However the Mccann's and their friends specifically, and for unknown reasons, ended the investigation early and before it could complete gatheirng ALL evidence.
As such like any other police investigation in the world the McCann's had been unable to rule themselves out and prove their innocence to the investigation.
That does not alter one iota, there assumption in law that they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
It simply means that they remain supsects until either directly or indirectly their innocence is proven or evidence is found against them.