Crimes and tragedies happen all the time. Fortunately, modern society has developed legal systems and law enforcement to protect citizens and their rights. During a court session, the better lawyers do their job in defending a client, the better chance the court rules in their favor. Although some people might consider it inequitable to defend someone who has committed a crime, lawyers should, however, defend conscientiously for their clients according to the presumption of innocence, the core value of the rule of law, not to mention that lawyers are responsible for helping the adjudication process rather than making court orders for the judge or jury.
  Above all, according to the presumption of innocence, one is considered innocent until proven guilty. Based on that, lawyers, before their client is declared guilty, should always keep in mind that the client remains legally innocent and should always persist their neutrality as attorneys. The concept of presumption of innocence first occurred as the Roman Republic enforced The Law of the Twelve Tables, advocating that the responsibility of proving whether a person is guilty lies on the accuser, not the accused. Meanwhile in China, The Book of Documents also mentioned some similar ideas. In 1764, an Italian jurist, Cesare Beccaria, provided us with the original theory of the presumption of innocence (On Crimes and Punishments, 1784). This principle ought to guard the legitimate rights of criminal suspects and defendants, and avoid miscarriages of justice. Besides, the establishment of this principle could prompt the law enforcement to be more attentive during investigations instead of rushing a case and framing innocent people in result. For instance, in 1996, Chiang Kuo-ching, a Taiwanese air force private, confessed a felony of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl after 37 hours of illegal threatening and torturing by investigators. Subsequently in 1997, he was executed by a military tribunal. It wasn’t after 14 years in 2011 did Chiang’s verdict get reversed by a military court, but the belated justice couldn’t bring back an innocent soul. This renowned case caused a judicial reform in Taiwan and, as a matter of fact, it was such a great tragic that a group of voluntary lawyers petitioned for a retrial on behalf of Chiang’s mother. This horrendous succession of events happened due to the bias and ignorance held by those who oversaw the investigation of Chiang’s case. Till this day, the concept of presumption of innocence is so crucial that in modern countries where the rule of law applies, which is often included in legal codes and constitutions. Hence, as law workers, they should be significantly respectful towards the legal system. Lawyers must esteem this indispensable principle and stand their ground as one of the executors of the trial process, protect their client’s rights, and consider them innocent regardless of the information they might have received and defend them full-heartedly.
  Furthermore, the division of labor in court sessions is very clear. Disobeying the individual roles in a lawsuit may disturb the court process and could be deemed frightfully unprofessional. A judge or a jury must listen to the prosecutor and the accused, along with observing the evidence provided by each party, speculate the truth, and then make a judgment. A lawyer, on the contrary, should present the judge or jury with evidence and persuade them with reason and logic. Based on the legal ethic rules in Taiwan, lawyers shall do their utmost to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties in accordance with the law and due process. The handling of the incident shall not be unreasonably prolonged, and the incident shall be informed in time of important matters. If lawyers fail to represent their client well due to their consideration or recognition of the fact that the client is guilty, it would mean that they despised their role in the court and conducted their job as attorneys falsely. As a result, in respect of the responsibility assignment, lawyers must remain neutral when it comes to their clients, strive to get them the outcome they deserve and depend on the judge or jury to make final sentences. Thus, lawyers should not allow their personal opinions into the case, instead, they must stand out as the face of truth and rationality.
  On the other hand, one might argue that defending a guilty person is both unjust and immoral since you may be lending your hand to an evildoer; nevertheless, it is quite the opposite. Given that every person, whether they violated the law or not, have the chance to practice their legal rights is exactly the core value of law. Even a notorious serial murderer deserves their opportunity to obtain the equivalent sentence of their crime. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “It is better for the law to rule than one of the citizens”. In my opinion, it illustrates the principal value of being ruled by law--to reconstruct an event based upon evidence and facts rather than having personal assumptions to determine one’s fate. Additionally, based on the World Justice Project, there are four universal principles for the rule of law. One of which is “accessible justice,” quoted from the site, “Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals who are accessible, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve” (World Justice Project, 2008-2019.) From the above, we could see that, when a person is facing a trial, the most righteous and proper implementation for law enforcement is to stay neutral, treat each defendant equally and let evidence speak instead of emotions or favoritism. Furthermore, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11, p.1:
 

 

 

 

 

 

​

It is clearly stated that, through the pursuit of ensuring every defendant’s fair opportunity to practice their legal rights, we are not only achieving true equality as in justice delivering, but also fortifying the foundation of our law system. Conclusively, every defendant should have attorneys that endeavor to speak for them under any circumstances.
  To sum up, regarding the presumption of innocence, the core value of the rule of law, and the duty assignment of court sessions, lawyers should always work hard to defend a client they think is guilty. In other words, the accused should be considered innocent before a court order is made. Secondly, everyone should be deemed equally and share the same legal rights before the law with no exception. Finally, every court member is ought to be respectful towards their roles in the court and obey them. It is necessary for lawyers and any law worker to do their jobs with a great sense of responsibility and carry out the law in a fair and just manner.

​

References
“What Is the Rule of Law?” World Justice Project, worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/overview/what-rule-law.
“Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/.