a very daunting task. It stated that taking into account the voluminous nature of the cases, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia established an independent body known as the Special Prosecutor‟s Office on 8 August 1992 by Proclamtion No 22/1992 for the purpose of conducting prompt investigation and bringing to trial arrestees as well as those persons responsible for having committed offences and at large within and outside the country. 184. In its Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, the African Commission reiterated that everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. The presumption of innocence, the African Commission further stated, places the burden of proof during trial in any criminal case on the prosecution. In its Resolution on the Right to Recourse and Fair Trial (1992), the African Commission further recognised the essential elements of a fair hearing to include, among other things, that persons charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.47 185. It is generally agreed that the presumption of innocence specifically entails that the person charged with a crime must be treated, within and outside criminal proceedings, as being innocent until proven guilty. As guaranteed in the African Charter, the principle constructs a presumption in favor of an individual accused of a crime according to which he or she is considered innocent until criminal responsibility is established in the case before the courts. In accordance with general opinion, which is also specifically confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights, the presumption of innocence is available not only to the defendant in the strictest sense of the word but also to an accused person prior to the filing of a criminal charge. A person has this right „until proved guilty according to law‟, i.e., until conviction becomes binding following final appeal.48 The presumption applies during the pre-trial investigations and should be considered even stronger with regard to a person against whom „not even a prima facie case has been confirmed‟.49 186. The African Commission agrees with the Complainants that the principle of the presumption of innocence constitutes a fundamental principle which protects everybody against being treated by public officials as if they were guilty of an offence even before such guilt is established by a competent court. It agrees that the Proclamation setting up the Special Prosecutor Office in itself clearly presumed the 47 ACHPR /Res.4(XI)92. See Manfred Nowak, page 254. 49 See Antonio Cassese, as in above. 48 42