The Use of Neuroscientific Evidence in the Modern Criminal Law with Emphasizing on the UK and Canadian Neurolitigation

Since the emergence of the modern neurolaw, we have been witnessing the increasing use of neuroscientific evidence in criminal courts of the advanced legal systems such as the UK and Canada. Following numerous neurolitigation doctrines, which were recognized in judicial precedent, there have been significant normative and procedural changes in the criminal justice system of such countries. Regardless of some of the current deficiencies and limits of neuroscience, the least functionality of this science in law can lead to a fairer criminal justice system. Since there is currently very little literature on neurolaw in our country, scrutinization of an important part of its practical issues in the context of neurolitigation can be a valuable step for the development of judicial practice and the advancement of Iranian legal knowledge in comparison to the current global one. As a main porpuse, this paper seeks to explain the extended boundary of the judicial procedure in employing neurosciencce evidence as proof of the claim.

This research is of theoretical type and the research method is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library and has been done by referring to documents, books and articles.

For evaluation of the death penalty, predict future risks, level of criminal responsibility, addiction, drug abuse, an offender’s mental status, competence, aggression, quality of counseling or assistance in committing a crime and the like, neuroscientific evidence in various cases have been used in British and Canadian litigation.

Ethical considerations: 

In order to organize this research, while observing the authenticity of the texts, honesty and fidelity have been observed.

As a conclusion, I found that neuroscientific evidence in courts is currently being used primarily to investigate criminal responsibility by the most prominent features in British and Canadian jurisprudence: ‘Cognitive Failure’, ‘Dangerousness’, and ‘Neurological or Mental Disorders.