The court considered the rule against self incrimination. Lord Justice Goddard said: ‘The rule is that no one is bound to answer any questions if the answer thereto would, in the opinion of the judge, have a tendency to expose the defendant to any criminal charge, penalty or forfeiture which the judge regards as reasonably likely to be incurred.’ The right to decline to answer must be plain in respect of the answer to each question and must be considered by the judge each time it is raised. Sometimes a question may not apparently raise any rational response of self-incrimination and the court must be satisfied that the answer would or might tend to criminate.
Goddard LJ
[1942] 2 KB 253
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Holder v The Law Society Admn 26-Jul-2005
The applicant challenged the independence of the respondent’s disciplinary tribunal.
Held: The claim failed: ‘the nature of the Tribunal is entirely adequately independent and impartial for the purposes for which it is constituted. The . .
Cited – Regina v S and A CACD 9-Oct-2008
The defendant appealed against his conviction under the 2000 Act for failing to disclose the key used to encrypt a computer file. He was subject to a control order as a suspected terrorist. As the police raided his house, they found the key had been . .
Cited – Phillips v Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd and Others ChD 17-Nov-2010
The claimant had been assistant to a well known publicist. The defendant had settled an action brought by her principal for hacking his mobile telephone, in the course of which it appeared that the claimant’s phone had also been hacked. She now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 21 September 2021; Ref: scu.230903
