Due process and presumption of innocence: a proposal for administrative law sanctions

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Emilio Boutaud Scheuermann

Abstract

The article examines the application of the presumption of innocence, as an element of criminal due process, in administrative sanctioning procedures. To this end, the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court on the so-called administrative due process is presented and it is proposed what its minimum content should be in administrative sanctioning procedures. Then, the origins and main meanings of the presumption of innocence are reviewed (rule of treatment and rule on the burden of proof), the approaches of the national doctrine and the constitutional jurisprudence on its application in administrative matters and the objections that can be formulated to this thesis. It is concluded that, despite these objections, the main meanings of the presumption of innocence must be applied with nuances in administrative sanctioning procedures, that is, maintaining the core of this right and altering only its secondary aspects.

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Doctrina: Estudios e Investigaciones