The magic phrase here is one police have to ask you before questioning begins. It is (I'm trying to quote but I may be paraphrasing, it's been a long time since I read the procedure manuals): "Keeping in mind the rights I've just explained to you, are you willing to answer some questions?"
As things stood before this decision, if you answered "No" to this, that doesn't stop the police from questioning you, but it does make it very hard for anything you say to be used legitimately in court -- because, by answering "No", you invoked your right to remain silent -- your right to not incriminate yourself.
This decision, however, means that instead of that protection kicking in the moment you say "No", it now requires you to speak up and deliberately invoke your right to remain silent.
It's putting the onus on the suspect rather than the police, and is a huge, huge concern, precisely because so many people don't know how to correctly respond and are (possibly innocently) terrified of the police.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
As things stood before this decision, if you answered "No" to this, that doesn't stop the police from questioning you, but it does make it very hard for anything you say to be used legitimately in court -- because, by answering "No", you invoked your right to remain silent -- your right to not incriminate yourself.
This decision, however, means that instead of that protection kicking in the moment you say "No", it now requires you to speak up and deliberately invoke your right to remain silent.
It's putting the onus on the suspect rather than the police, and is a huge, huge concern, precisely because so many people don't know how to correctly respond and are (possibly innocently) terrified of the police.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs