Self incrimination V withholding evidence.

UrbanFox

Withholding of evidence appears to be an offence - I do not know the statutory basis for that.

There also seems to be a right not to self-incriminate.

What happens if the two scenarios come in to conflict and you withhold evidence on the basis that you are exercising your right not to self-incriminate ? Assume that the evidence being withheld is actually also self-incriminating of the suspect.

How is that conflict resolved legally ?

inisfree0504

That offence is contained in s 19 of the CJA 2011. If you look at the wording of the section, you'll see that it does not apply the person who has committed a crime themself. It's a duty placed on any person other than the accused who has information about serious crime (like a witness, bystander or someone told about the crime).

The section also says that it won't be an offence if you have a reasonable excuse for not coming forward. If you fear you might be incriminating yourself or exposing yourself to gardaí as being complicit in the crime, then it will likely be considered reasonable for you not to come forward and the s 19 offence will not have been committed. (see the Supreme Court judgement in Sweeney v Ireland (2019)).

There are other legislative provisions that directly limit an accused's right against self-incrimination, however. They're generally just justified on the basis that limiting your right is occasionally a proportionate response to the public's interest in preventing and prosecuting serious crimes.