Privilege Against Self-Incrimination

The right not to be compelled to testify against oneself

Overview

The maxim nemo tenetur seipsum accusare grew from the struggles against ecclesiastical inquisitions and Star Chamber into the Fifth Amendment and parallel guarantees. It lets witnesses and defendants refuse to answer questions tending to expose them to prosecution, famously protects silence from adverse comment in some systems, and animates custody warnings of the Miranda type. Grant of immunity removes the compulsion justification and restores compelled testimony. Critics argue it protects the guilty, while defenders prize it as the check on coerced confession.