“Miranda Rights”: History of Their Establishment and Implementation in the Court Proceedings of the USA and the Russian Federation

Abstract

The paper analyzes the legal institute of «privilege against self-incrimination» recognized as a fundamental principle of the Anglo-Saxon legal system, which is best manifested in the so-called «Miranda rights» formulated in the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which became revolutionary and customary for criminal court proceedings in the USA. In their most general form, Miranda rights are procedural guarantees applied when a person is detained or taken into custody and interrogated. According to them, the detained or arrested person should, prior to questioning, be warned that they have the right to remain silent, anything they say can be used against them in court; they have the right to have a lawyer with them during questioning, if they cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for them by the state before the questioning starts. «Miranda rights» have gone through a difficult path, and been a subject of criticism by both officials and representatives of the legal community, but have withstood the test of time, taken the place of a constitutional principle in the USA and have been adopted in many countries, including Russia. The Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation incorporated clauses on the right of the suspect and the accused not to testify against themselves and the opportunity for the defense attorney to participate in the criminal case from the actual moment of the suspect’s detention.