The Privilege Against Self Incrimination

Challenging the accounts of John Henry Wigmore and Leonard W. Levy, this history of the privilege against self-incrimination demonstrates that what has sometimes been taken to be an unchanging tenet of our legal system has actually encompassed many different legal consequences in a history that reaches back to the Middle Ages.

Each chapter of this definitive study uncovers what the privilege meant in practice. The authors trace the privilege from its origins in the medieval period to its first appearance in English common law, and from its translation to the American colonies to its development into an effective protection for criminal defendants in the nineteenth century. The authors show that the modern privilege—the right to remain silent—is far from being a basic civil liberty. Rather, it has evolved through halting and controversial steps. The book also questions how well an expansive notion of the privilege accords with commonly accepted principles of morality.

This book constitutes a major revision of our understanding of an important aspect of both criminal and constitutional law.

Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676), lawyer and jurist, retired as lord chief justice of England. Charles M. Gray is professor emeritus of history at the University of Chicago, the author or coauthor of several books, and a former coeditor of the Journal of Modern History.


John H. Langbein is the Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale University. He is the editor or author of several books, including, most recently, The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial.