Legal Definition and Related Resources of Self-incrimination

The Fifth amendment to the federal constitution guarantees the privilege of an individual against selfincrimination and this privilege is further protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgement thereof by the states. See Re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87S. Ct. 1428,18 L.Ed.2d527. It protects the right of a person to remain silent unless he chooses to speak in the free exercise of his own will, and he can be subject to no penalty for such silence. Mallory v Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1489,12 L. Ed.2d653. The privilege against self- incrimination protects a witness from being compelled to give testimony which will subject him to prosecution or which will expose him to a reasonable possibility of prosecution, or will prove the whole crime in question , unaided by the testimony of others or will tend to conviction when combined with proof of other circumstances which others may supply. See Empack v United States , 349 U.S. 190, 75 S.Ct. 687, 99 L.Ed. 997. The purpose of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is to offer protection against being compelled to give testimony leading to the infliction of penalties affixed to criminal acts. See Kastigar v United States, 406 U.S. 441, 92 S. Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d212.

Browse or run a search for Self-incrimination in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Self-incrimination in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Self-incrimination in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Self-incrimination in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Right Of Privacy.

Self-Incrimination in the law of the United States

Self-Incrimination: Related U.S. Resources

• Self-Incrimination in the American Law Encyclopedia
• Criminal Judicial Process Keywords in the U.S. Legal Corpus
• Criminal Process Topics in the United States Legal Dictionary

See Also

Confession (in the U.S. Legal Encyclopedia) Immunity (in the U.S. Legal Encyclopedia).

Meaning of Self-incrimination in Spanish

Description/ translation of self-incrimination into Spanish: declarar contra sí mismo, autoinculpación; privilege against compelled self-incrimination: principio procesal que puede enunciarse así : “nadie está obligado a declarar en contra suya”[1]

Note: for more information on related terms and on the area of law where self-incrimination belongs (criminal procedure law), in Spanish, see here.

Notes and References

1. Translation of Self-incrimination published by Antonio Peñaranda

Self-Incrimination (Criminal Judicial Process)

Self-Incrimination