Criminal Law Assignment
Assignment Question:
A person who is charged with a criminal offence enjoys certain rights. The principle right is that of the right to silence and the right not to incriminate yourself. The right to silence is an immunity, which differs in nature, origin, incidence and importance. The suspect’s immunity was developed in order to avoid the risk of untrue confessions being obtained from a person in police custody. The law does not prohibit a suspect from confessing to a crime. It does however provide that a suspect should be free to remain silent should he so choose and that he should be informed of his right to do so.
Analyze with reference to relevant case law.
Answer:
Introduction:
When the police arrest a person, they should recite to him the Miranda warning. The Miranda warning or as also known as the Miranda rights mentions some of the rights that an arrested person enjoys. Such rights are the right to silence and the right to speak to an attorney. If these rights were not mentioned to the arrested person, then any of the confessions that he might have made may be excluded in their prosecution as evidence. We will look in this assignment at the Miranda rights and in particular looking at the right to silence and the right not to incriminate yourself. And we will look at some of the cases that are related to this topic.
What is the right to silence?
The right to silence is used by persons in Garda custody for a criminal offence. Where they can refuse to answer any of the questions made to them by the Garda.
The right to silence is not only a common law but it is also one of the constitutional rights. The right to silence is mentioned in Bunreacht na hEireann, or the Irish constitution in Article 38.1.
In some cases however, the legislation began to require answers to some questions in specific circumstances.
This was seen in the case of Heaney v. Ireland . Here the defendants were required to give a full account of their movements
A person who is charged with a criminal offence enjoys certain rights. The principle right is that of the right to silence and the right not to incriminate yourself. The right to silence is an immunity, which differs in nature, origin, incidence and importance. The suspect’s immunity was developed in order to avoid the risk of untrue confessions being obtained from a person in police custody. The law does not prohibit a suspect from confessing to a crime. It does however provide that a suspect should be free to remain silent should he so choose and that he should be informed of his right to do so.
Analyze with reference to relevant case law.
Answer:
Introduction:
When the police arrest a person, they should recite to him the Miranda warning. The Miranda warning or as also known as the Miranda rights mentions some of the rights that an arrested person enjoys. Such rights are the right to silence and the right to speak to an attorney. If these rights were not mentioned to the arrested person, then any of the confessions that he might have made may be excluded in their prosecution as evidence. We will look in this assignment at the Miranda rights and in particular looking at the right to silence and the right not to incriminate yourself. And we will look at some of the cases that are related to this topic.
What is the right to silence?
The right to silence is used by persons in Garda custody for a criminal offence. Where they can refuse to answer any of the questions made to them by the Garda.
The right to silence is not only a common law but it is also one of the constitutional rights. The right to silence is mentioned in Bunreacht na hEireann, or the Irish constitution in Article 38.1.
In some cases however, the legislation began to require answers to some questions in specific circumstances.
This was seen in the case of Heaney v. Ireland . Here the defendants were required to give a full account of their movements
Bibliography: • Cecilia Ni Choileain, Criminal Law, (Round Hall Nutshells, Thomson Round Hall, Dublin 2006) • Peter Charleton, P.A McDermott and M • T.J McIntyre and Sinead McMullan, Criminal Law, (Essential Law Texts, Sweet and Maxwell, London 2001) • Vicky Conway, Yvonne Daly and Jennifer Schweppe, Irish Criminal Justice, (Clarus Press Ltd, Dublin 2010) • T.J McIntyre and Sinead McMullan, Criminal Law, (Essential Law Texts, 2nd Ed, Sweet and Maxwell, London 2005) • Fergus W Articles: • Siun Leonowicz “The Privilege against self incrimination” (2005) 23 ILT 77 • “The Right to Silence” (1991) 9 ILT 269 Other Sources