U.S. Appellate Court Prohibits Defendants from Asserting Self-Incrimination Privilege Due to Fear of Foreign Prosecution

On May 13, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the recent prohibition disallowing defendants from asserting the right against self-incrimination to their fear of foreign prosecutions. The interesting twist was that the case concerned joint prosecution, involving the U.S., Canada, Germany, Canada, Spain, the U.K., Germany, Mexico, France and other countries, to obtain documents for the grand jury investigation... [more]