Self-Incrimination

Jewish law goes beyond protecting against self-incrimination; a person who confesses to having committed an illegal act is not believed. The Talmudic principle is "ein adam meisim atzmo rasha" — "a man cannot declare himself wicked". The source for this is Talmud Sanhedrin 9b; it’s codified in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Edus (Testimony), 12:2, and in Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 34:25, and there’s an article on it in the first volume of the Talmudic Encyclopedia. Authorities differ as to whether we believe a self-incriminating confession if the illegal act was only rabbinically forbidden, or whether we believe it as regards associated monetary liabilities (since confessions on monetary matters are accepted).