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Article 18 (2) of the constitution of Zambia CAP 1 states ‘Every person who is charged with a criminal offence –

a)      Shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved or has pleaded guilty?

b)      Mr. Lisholi Lelituna is very comfortable with this part of the article as he is very much aware that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove his innocence beyond all reasonable doubt.  Any doubt whether he stole or not will be in his favor.  On the other hand the same article 18 (12) (a) states ‘ nothing contained in or done under the authority of any Law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of-

Paragraph (a) of clause (2) to the extent that it is shown that the Law in question imposes upon any person charged with criminal offence the burden of proving particular facts’

M. Sangwapo is not happy with this part of the article as he is aware that the offences such as abuse of authority, being in possession of property suspected to be stolen or unlawfully obtained, drug trafficking and money laundering etc, he is required by this article to prove his innocence and prosecution has no or little job to do.    

Mr. Lisholi Lelituna and Mr. Sangwapo team up and approaches you as a student lawyer of criminal law at Cavendish University Zambia, whether the burden of proof should again be on the criminal offender and not on the prosecution always.  And whether the standard of proof should be the same in criminal law.  Advice, cite authorities to support your answer.