Since "pleading the fifth" invokes the rights guaranteed in the fifth amendment to the U.S. constitution, the phrase as such would not make sense in any country where the U.S. constitution is not law.
looney_tunes Moderator 19 year member
3319 replies
Answer has 9 votes.
Although the phrase does indeed refer specifically to the US Constitution, people around the world are familiar with its meaning through watching movies and television (especially crime shows), and happily use the phrase to avoid giving an uncomfortable answer in social situations, even though it has no legal significance for them. Of course, expats such as myself contribute to its usage!
In jurisdictions where British common law applies there is a common law privilege against self-incrimination which "...entitles a person to refuse to answer any question, or produce any document, if the answer or the production would tend to incriminate that person." The US Fifth amendment codifies this pre-existing privilege so citizens in the US may claim this right by citing the constitutional amendment while in other jurisdictions (Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand etc.) the right is simply asserted before the judge. http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/15.%20Privilege%3A%20Other%20Privileges/privilege-respect-self-incrimination-other-proceedings
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