第19解

beyond a reasonable doubt

【英文】In light of the seriousness of the penalties for violating a criminal law，both the Constitution and statutory law—federal and state codes—impose strict sets of procedural rules to ensure that persons who are accused of criminal acts are tried fairly and convicted only if guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.

【譯文】因違反刑法，根據處罰之嚴重程度，憲法及聯邦和各州制定法都規定了嚴格的程序原則，以確保被指控有犯罪行為的人得到公正的審判，并且僅在排除了合理懷疑之后確立了犯罪事實，才可做出有罪判決。

【解釋】beyond a reasonable doubt意為“排除合理懷疑”。與民事訴訟中“優勢證據”（preponderance of evidence）原則不同，刑事訴訟中確立的證據標準被稱為“排除合理懷疑”，即陪審團只有在檢方提出的證據能夠排除所有合理的懷疑之后，才可以判定被告人有罪。

再如：

Criminal defendants are presumed innocent.The state must overcome this presumption of innocence by proving every element of the offense charged against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of all the jurors.〔譯文：刑事被告人是被推定無罪的。如果要推翻這一無罪推定，國家必須證明被告人被控犯罪的每一構成要件都被排除合理懷疑，從而讓所有陪審員滿意。〕