The defendant’s silence under the criminal procedure law of Russia and foreign jurisdictions

Introduction: the article analyzes the defendant's silence models in foreign states (England and Wales, Ireland, the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium) and in Russia, with a focus on the evidence thresholds that allow drawing adverse inferences from the accused's refusal or failure to answer questions as well as on the scope of these inferences. The historical retrospective of the issue and the development of international standards permitting the use of silence for evidentiary purposes are explored. The purpose of the paper is to study the legislation and law enforcement practice of the selected countries with regard to the conditions under which adverse inferences can be drawn from the defendant's silence.