An Economic Analysis Of The Right To Silence

The right to silence is that the criminal suspects or defendants in criminalproceedings have right to refused answer questions from the official or the right toremain silent, if it is remain silent or refuse to answer forspecific problems, should notinfer the bad from the silence. The right to silence is conducive to the protection ofthe suspects and the defendant’s legal status, to achieve the dual goals of human rightsand the punishment of crime; to establish the mode of criminal litigation structure ofscience, the mode of trial by the authority to the partiesacross; is conducive to theimprovement of international recognition, enhance public confidence in the criminallegal system, promote the criminal procedure better operation.This particle using the generalized method of economic analysis, concerns noneconomic into the angle of view of economic research,and using mathematical modelsand charts, cost and benefit analysis of silence right.The right to silence cost isdivided into three parts: The first is the inevitable increase in cost, composed of themeaning of the traditional economics sense cost and non traditional economics cost;The second is a necessary to reduce cost, primarily is the error cost and ethics cost;The thrid is the cost of inevitabiy raises, In some special crime the cost is not raise incase of establishing the right to silence. The benefits of right to silence is divided intotraditional economicsbenefits and non traditional economics benefits.Comparing costsand benefits based on the right to silence, the silence right system basic rationality,andin China should be established and developmented.On account of the conviction,the sentencing,the risk preferences of crimesuspects influence the right to silence, to demonstrate how to realize the maximizationof the criminal suspect profits; by controlling the marginal cost and marginal benefitequilibrium, take corresponding measures to cope with the severe informationasymmetry,in order to ensure the detective agencies to maximize the profits. From maximum analysis of the criminal suspects and the detective agencies to shows that:only the moderate restriction on the right to silence, can achieve its maximum benefits.When the marginal revenue more than the marginal cost, we should fully protect thesuspect, the defendant’s right to silence, balace the litigation status between defendantand detective agencies; when the marginal revenue less than the silence marginal cost,we should be limit of the criminal suspects and defendants, the right to silence; whenthe marginal revenue is equal to the marginal cost, profit maximization...