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Not proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland. As with other judicial systems, the burden to prove guilt rests with the prosecution. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts: one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty").〔''(The Scottish criminal jury: A very peculiar institution )'', Peter Duff, 62 Law & Contemp. Probs. 173 (Spring 1999)〕〔 Historically, the two verdicts available to Scots juries were that the case had been "proven" or "not proven". However, in a dramatic case in 1728 the jury asserted "its ancient right" to bring in a "not guilty" verdict even when the facts of the case were proven (see jury nullification). As the "not guilty" verdict gained wide acceptance amongst Scots juries, Scots began to use "not guilty" in cases where the jury felt the "not proven" verdict did not adequately express the innocence of the person on trial. Shrewd defence then further encouraged this interpretation in order to persuade juries unwilling to bring in a "not guilty" verdict that the "not proven" could be brought in as a lesser or "third verdict". The result is the modern perception that the "not proven" verdict is an acquittal used when the judge or jury does not have enough evidence to convict but is not sufficiently convinced of the accused person's innocence to bring in a "not guilty" verdict. Essentially, the judge or jury is unconvinced that the suspect is innocent, but has insufficient evidence to the contrary. In popular parlance, this verdict is sometimes jokingly referred to as "not guilty and don't do it again".〔Albert Borowitz: ''Blood & Ink'', Kent State University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-87338-693-0, p 164〕 Out of the country, the "not proven" verdict may be referred to as the Scottish verdict, and in Scotland itself it may be referred to colloquially as the bastard verdict,〔(Scotsman.com "Bastard Verdict" )〕 which was a term coined by Sir Walter Scott, who was sheriff in the court of Selkirk. In Scottish criminal courts, the person on trial is referred to as ''the accused''. If the accused is convicted, he or she is thereafter referred to as ''the convicted''. ==History== The three verdict system was established in Scots law by 1728 (since then juries have been able to pass a ''not guilty'' verdict). For some time before this, there were just two verdicts: ''Proven'' and ''Not proven''; scholars dispute the origins of this system. On one account, advanced two hundred years ago by the historians Hume and Arnot, the older distinctively Scottish two verdict system was rooted in religious oppression. The Crown persecuted the Covenanters but popular support made it impossible to convict them in a jury trial. To pare the power of the jury, the Scottish judges began restricting the jury's role: no longer would the jury announce whether the accused was "guilty" or "not guilty"; instead it would decide whether specific factual allegations were "proven" or "not proven"; and the judge would then decide whether to convict. Some historians, however, such as Ian Douglas Willock, have rejected the traditional account. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Not proven」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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