Summary
"This paper will explore the development and evolution of the privilege against self-incrimination and the common law voluntariness rule in four jurisdictions, Canada, England, the United States and Australia. In so doing, the various underlying theories of the law of confessions that have also evolved over time in these jurisdictions will also be examined. Looking at the history of the law of confessions, we see the age old dilemma between using police interrogation and abstracting confessions as a key method to investigating and prosecuting crimes and not improperly exploiting the individual for the information necessary to convict him or her. This dilemma is all the more starkly illustrated in the last part of this paper when examining the law of confessions in the age of terrorism."--Page 4.