The Development of the Guarantees Against Self-Incrimination in the Latin American Constitutional System: Different Views on a Common Legal and Political Institute

Abstract

The right to silence, and the broader guarantee against self-incrimination, is a juridical construction that found in Latin America a fertile ground for its development. Considering the common history of authoritarian dictatorships and the subsequent resistance to oppression-based legal culture, most Latin American constitutions provided clauses that protected the criminal defendant against physical or psychic abuse and violent means of proof from the State. Therefore, constructing a dialogue between the jurisprudence of Latin American Constitutional Courts, as well as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, is utterly important as a means to build a minimal standard of efficacy.