Defense of the presumption of innocence as an essential guarantee in the sanctioning administrative law

Abstract

In a recent paper, it has been proposed to invert the burden of proof in the sanctioning procedure, which would mean that the citizen should prove his innocence. This new rule would be used in those cases where the cost to produce evidence is lower for the citizen. In this way, one could face the problem of strategic behavior and hiding of information. In this paper, the proposal is critically analyzed, questioning its theoretical grounds and its practical implications. In other words, this paper assumes a defense of the constitutional guarantee of presumption of innocence, which can and should not admit exceptions.