Interrogational fairness under the European convention on human rights

This article examines the contribution of the European Court of Human Rights to the development of interrogational fairness at the pretrial phase in modern European criminal proceedings. Although the Convention contains no explicit reference to the right to remain silent and the privilege against self-incrimination, the Court, drawing its rationale from Article 6 of the Convention, has been steadily developing its distinctive vision of these immunities in an attempt to create a doctrine that sets a limit below which contracting parties could not allow their legal systems to fall, while also acting in accordance with the established procedures within the civil and common law traditions of its Contracting States. It is shown that the Court’s jurisprudence has produced a carefully balanced doctrinal framework that respects the individual’s choice to remain silent without creating absolute immunities. Simultaneously the Court’s approach in defining defense rights not only reflects what is says about the universality of the right to remain silent but also gives plenty of scope for diverse applications in different institutional and cultural settings.