<P> The Fifth Amendment ( Amendment V ) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights and protects individuals from being compelled to be witnesses against themselves in criminal cases . `` Pleading the Fifth '' is a colloquial term for invoking the right that allows witnesses to decline to answer questions where the answers might incriminate them , and generally without having to suffer a penalty for asserting the right . This evidentiary privilege ensures that defendants can not be compelled to become witnesses at their own trials . If , however , they choose to testify , they are not entitled to the right during cross-examination , where questions are relevant to their testimony on direct examination . The Amendment requires that felonies be tried only upon indictment by a grand jury . Federal grand juries can force people to take the witness stand , but defendants in those proceedings have Fifth Amendment privileges until they choose to answer any question . To claim the privilege for failure to answer when being interviewed by police , the interviewee must have explicitly invoked the constitutional right when declining to answer questions . </P>
<P> The Fifth Amendment ( Amendment V ) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights and protects individuals from being compelled to be witnesses against themselves in criminal cases . `` Pleading the Fifth '' is a colloquial term for invoking the right that allows witnesses to decline to answer questions where the answers might incriminate them , and generally without having to suffer a penalty for asserting the right . This evidentiary privilege ensures that defendants can not be compelled to become witnesses at their own trials . If , however , they choose to testify , they are not entitled to the right during cross-examination , where questions are relevant to their testimony on direct examination . The Amendment requires that felonies be tried only upon indictment by a grand jury . Federal grand juries can force people to take the witness stand , but defendants in those proceedings have Fifth Amendment privileges until they choose to answer any question . To claim the privilege for failure to answer when being interviewed by police , the interviewee must have explicitly invoked the constitutional right when declining to answer questions . </P>
which constitutional amendment protects the individual against self incrimination
which constitutional amendment protects the individual against self incrimination
Amendment V
Amendment V