The right to silence !

It is a rare event when the daily newspaper does not contain a story about a person being shot or a house sprayed with bullets as the criminal fraternity goes about it's business.   The " gun culture " has clearly arrived in Australia and there seems to be no shortage of weapons on our streets.   The main contenders doing battle seem to be the " Bikie " fraternity, Middle East crime gangs and those engaged in the supply of illicit drugs. The one thing they all have in common - a wall of silence to thwart investigating police.

The right to silence is an integral part of our legal system.  We are not obliged to incriminate ourselves and it is the job of the police and their prosecutors to put together a case that may convince a judge and jury to convict the accused.    It has become a ritual for suspects to answer all and every question asked with " No comment ". !

That may be about to change.   The Mandarins who frame our laws are delving into the intricacies of putting together a new law that will make refusing to describe criminal events that have occurred a crime.   The problem is going to be a matter of balance.   If it becomes a legal requirement to answer police truthfully in all circumstances, then we will have suffered a gross invasion of civil liberty.  

There is danger in any law change that strips away a citizens right to self protection.  The aim may be to break the wall of silence that encompasses major crime, but it can easily become an instrument of interrogation that is used to lay a charge when no other evidence can be found.  It introduces the notion that being present is sufficient proof that a person possesses information - and discounts uncertainty about what occurred as a breach of the law.    It is possible that any new law can extend beyond the intention of it's framers  if a hard line judge bestows a blessing on such an interpretation.

A case in point.   In South Africa, police shot and killed a group of striking miners in front of news cameras that recorded the event.  Despite this clear evidence, companions of those killed are now being charged with their murder under an old Apartheid law that has never been repealed.  It apportions blame on a " collective responsibility " basis.   Obviously, use of this old law is condoned by legal authorities because it serves their purpose - and it is legally part of the justice system in that country.

This tends to emphasis the necessity to think long and hard before we make any change to laws that have served us well for centuries - and remember that old adage - that we should be very careful about what we wish for !