What is the Marital Communications Privilege?
The marital communications privilege is the privilege allowing one spouse not to testify about confidential communications made to the other spouse. It is based on the principle that conversations between two people who are married are considered privileged, and therefore inadmissible as evidence in a trial. There are two separate privileges within this category, the husband-and-wife privilege and the spousal confidential communications privilege. What is the Husband-and-Wife Privilege? The husband-and-wife privilege protects a marital relationship when a valid marriage exists. The privilege is mainly used to grant spousal immunity from testifying in criminal cases. The husband-and-wife privilege: • Can only be used if the couple is currently married • Does not require couple to have been married at the time of the event • Can include observations, events and non-verbal acts in addition to speech • Cannot be used if alleged crime is against spouse or their children or in suits between
