Editing Right to silence (section)

===Germany===
According to § 136 {{ill|Strafprozessordnung (Germany)|lt=Strafprozessordnung|de|Strafprozessordnung (Deutschland)}} (StPO, i.e. [[Criminal Procedure Code]]) a suspect, arrested or not, has to be informed before any interrogation about their right to remain silent. Though the police and courts may not draw inference from the complete silence of the accused in any stage of criminal proceedings, inference may be drawn if the accused is selectively silent. Suspects cannot be heard under oath.

Before any interrogation begins a suspect, arrested or not, must be informed:

* Of the crime for which he is charged
* About his right to remain silent
* About his right to consult an attorney before the interview
* About his right to name any evidence in his favour

Foreign suspects have the following additional rights:

* Translation assistance, and
* Consular assistance

A person against which exist plausible causes of suspicion can be interrogated as an ordinary witness in criminal proceedings against another person. However, in this case according to § 55 StPO, the witness can refuse to answer questions which could incriminate themselves (or one of their relatives). The suspicious witness also must be cautioned about the right to remain silent. Suspicious witnesses cannot be heard under oath.

However, the German constitutional court has decided that the much more strict UK laws, in which complete silence of the accused can be used against him depending on additional evidence, are compatible with the German constitution. Thus, Germany may extradite persons to the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lawblog.de/index.php/archives/2016/09/14/bis-aufs-stuetzgeruest/|title=Bis aufs Stützgerüst|date=14 September 2016 |access-date=17 February 2018}}</ref> It also implies that changing the German laws towards those of the UK would not violate the German constitution.