I’ve never really thought of it as a bad thing. You can still say nothing, or “I want to speak with a lawyer before I answer any questions”.
I’ve always considered it to be more about a line of questioning at trial. If you’ve invented an alibi, the prosecution can ask you “why are you only coming up with this excuse now but you didn’t at the time?”. You might then have a good reason for this, such as “I didn’t think it was a good idea to answer questions without first consulting a lawyer”.
The American model of having immunity if you just stay quiet is a bit odd in comparison.
I always assumed that it means that if you talk to them and don’t mention the thing that you might rely on later then it could harm your defence but if you just say that you need to speak to a lawyer and say nothing else then that can’t harm your defence.
I’ve never really thought of it as a bad thing. You can still say nothing, or “I want to speak with a lawyer before I answer any questions”.
I’ve always considered it to be more about a line of questioning at trial. If you’ve invented an alibi, the prosecution can ask you “why are you only coming up with this excuse now but you didn’t at the time?”. You might then have a good reason for this, such as “I didn’t think it was a good idea to answer questions without first consulting a lawyer”.
The American model of having immunity if you just stay quiet is a bit odd in comparison.
I always assumed that it means that if you talk to them and don’t mention the thing that you might rely on later then it could harm your defence but if you just say that you need to speak to a lawyer and say nothing else then that can’t harm your defence.
I’m not a lawyer though.