you most certainly have the right to silence in the UK.
> while I appreciate this is a US legal case, in the UK the right to silence can be used against a defendant
as you correctly identified, only inferences in a somewhat defined range of cases can be made.
> One thing that puzzles me, though, is how am I supposed to know what I will rely on in court before I am on trial?
if you fail to answer a question during the investigation, and then later rely on the answer of that question in court. before you get anywhere near a court room, you must know what you have been charged with, arrested, and interviewed, etc. (unless of course you're a terrorist, then, you know, fuck you)
and yes, the ECHR wouldn't be happy with any inferences drawn from silence. i'm sure if a case hinged on these inferences, and the defendant was found guilty, an appeal to them would likely be successful.
although you wont want to hold your breath waiting for it, ~7 years is a long time..
> while I appreciate this is a US legal case, in the UK the right to silence can be used against a defendant
as you correctly identified, only inferences in a somewhat defined range of cases can be made.
> One thing that puzzles me, though, is how am I supposed to know what I will rely on in court before I am on trial?
if you fail to answer a question during the investigation, and then later rely on the answer of that question in court. before you get anywhere near a court room, you must know what you have been charged with, arrested, and interviewed, etc. (unless of course you're a terrorist, then, you know, fuck you)
and yes, the ECHR wouldn't be happy with any inferences drawn from silence. i'm sure if a case hinged on these inferences, and the defendant was found guilty, an appeal to them would likely be successful.
although you wont want to hold your breath waiting for it, ~7 years is a long time..