ABSTRACT
A central feature of most common law jurisdictions is that the prosecution have the burden of proving the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt. In Woolmington v DPP,238 the House of Lords held that it was for the prosecution to prove all the elements of the crime, including the mental element. In Woolmington, the accused was charged with murdering his estranged wife. He admitted shooting her, but claimed he had shot her by accident. The trial judge directed the jury that once it was established that the victim had died as a result of the accused’s act, the defence bore the burden of proving that it was an accident rather than an intentional killing. TheHouse of Lordsheld this to be amisdirection. In the words of Viscount Sankey:
It was this decision in 1935 which first clearly established the so-called ‘golden thread’ of English criminal law: the principle that it is for the prosecution to prove the defendant’s guilt. As the House of Lords proceeded to state, this rule was subject only to the common law exception of insanity and any statutory exception created by Parliament.
