Academic

Gans on the Right to Silence in Australia

By Lawrence Solum

Jeremy Gans (University of Melbourne) has posted Silence in the High Court (Public Law Review, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2008) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

When apparent criminals refuse to speak (or insist on denying their guilt), how far can the police go to change their minds? Specifically, where will courts draw the line when it comes to admitting the fruits of those methods in a criminal trial? Nearly everyone agrees that using torture or physical threats is a bridge too far. To some, these questions - raising, as they do, the state's access to its citizens' deepest secrets - are central to civilisation. To others, any qualms about police interrogations aside from torture and false confessions are those of an `old woman'. Six current members of the High Court have now placed themselves firmly in the second camp. This note examines the way the High Court now develops the law of evidence when a novel question arises about suspects' right to silence and the law's protection of it.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on January 17, 2008 (boomark / email).