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Sure: The UK moved to a qualified right to silence some time ago. On the flip side, UK police are far more constrained in their actions when interviewing suspe

by pja 9y ago

Sure: The UK moved to a qualified right to silence some time ago. On the flip side, UK police are far more constrained in their actions when interviewing suspects than US police are: @ UK police are not permitted to lie to suspects in interviews @ Interviews must be recorded from start to finish. @ No abusive use of plea bargains: we don’t do the “take this plea bargain or risk being locked up for 60 years” thing at all. I’m sure there are more, but those are the things that spring to mind immediately. I’m not going to pretend that everything in the UK is sweetness and light regarding our police, but the idea that the US is a haven of civil rights compared to the UK is just completely wrong-headed.

tptacek 9y ago
Without legal representation, I can see there being some debate about whether the UK has stronger protections for the accused than the US. But with representation, it seems there's no question: the things the UK police aren't allowed to do are things that lawyers handle in the US anyways, and not having a right to remain silent is an enormous problem for the accused with or without a lawyer. There are further differences. For instance: * Like most of Europe, the UK doesn't have an exclusionary rule for illegitimately obtained evidence. Unauthorized searches can produce evidence admissible in court. * Defendants in the UK don't have the same right to avoid self-incrimination that US defendants do. * Evidence obtained through entrapment can be admissible in UK courts. * There's precedent in the UK for secret criminal trials (the US has "secret courts", but those courts have no powers to hear criminal cases). * The UK accused can be held for up to 28 days without charge. * Terror suspects in the UK can be placed on what is effectively house arrest indefinitely, without criminal charges.

by pja 9y ago

tptacek 9y ago

Without legal representation, I can see there being some debate about whether the UK has stronger protections for the accused than the US. But with representation, it seems there's no question: the things the UK police aren't allowed to do are things that lawyers handle in the US anyways, and not having a right to remain silent is an enormous problem for the accused with or without a lawyer. There are further differences. For instance: * Like most of Europe, the UK doesn't have an exclusionary rule for illegitimately obtained evidence. Unauthorized searches can produce evidence admissible in court. * Defendants in the UK don't have the same right to avoid self-incrimination that US defendants do. * Evidence obtained through entrapment can be admissible in UK courts. * There's precedent in the UK for secret criminal trials (the US has "secret courts", but those courts have no powers to hear criminal cases). * The UK accused can be held for up to 28 days without charge. * Terror suspects in the UK can be placed on what is effectively house arrest indefinitely, without criminal charges.