remaining silent will not be an offence. Provisions similar to (c) and (d) above exist in Scotland under section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980. 216. The Government is now considering what amendments should be made to the right of silence in England and Wales. The intention is again not to abolish this right, but to amend it in such a way that defendants cannot obtain an advantage by relying for their defence on a fact that they failed, without good reason, to disclose to the police. The Government has acknowleged that this is a difficult area and has not as yet proposed a solution. 217. A related question is whether comment should be made on and inference drawn from an accused person's failure to testify in court. A Working Group appointed by the Home Secretary to consider these issues produced a report with recommendations in May 1989. The Group suggested that, subject to certain safeguards, a jury or magistrates' court should be able to draw whatever inferences were reasonable from the failure of the accused, when being interviewed or upon being charged, to mention a fact upon which he later relied for his defence. The Group did not feel, however, that failure to answer questions or to mention such a fact should in the present state of the law, be capable of amounting to corroboration or otherwise constitute positive evidence of guilt. On the question of advance disclosure of the defence case, the Group recommended that there should be no requirement for this in magistrates courts, but that it should be introduced progressively in the Crown Court in respect of cases where there was a risk of an "ambush" defence. The Group also recommended that, in the Crown Court, the prosecution 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be discussing the law and its application in the context of criminal justice, specifically the right of silence and its potential amendments. The text does not seem to be related to any of the economic or social services categories, but rather focuses on legal issues and policy decisions.

**Category**
Justice, Law and Order