A suspect's right to silence does not require invocation and is not waived by answering some police questions; a Crown Prosecutor may not invite the jury to discount a defence raised at trial by reference to the accused's earlier silence about it, even where the accused has responded to some questions. A trial judge who uncritically repeats such a submission compounds the error. The question whether the common law prohibition on drawing inferences from silence applies where the accused bears the onus of proof remains open.
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