We live in a time of fast development and interconnection in different fields. The medicine, technology and our understanding of the world are developing. One of the fast developing fields is neuroscience which among other things has a great potential of affecting the law; in my thesis I will focus mainly on the influence of neuroscience on the criminal law.
In the master's thesis I have presented neuroscientific methods which are used in criminal procedure. So far there are two most common techinues: lie detection and brain fingerprinting. The latter searching for information in human brain.
I have described the presented methodes and their possibe use in evidentary hearing and tried to place the methods in the existing evidentiary system and define their probative nature.
I have immersed into the questions of the existing procedural rights of the defendant in criminal procedure and on the questions how the neuroscientific methods do (not) comply with them and presented other concerns about the use of neuroscientific methods in criminal procedure.
As I have found out, the biggest problem of neuroscientific methods at the moment is that they are still not sufficiently researched, developed and reliable to have a free way into the courtrooms. Another big issue is their inconsistency, respectively they are objecting existing fundamental rights that the Slovenian Constitution already provides for the defendants in criminal procedure.
Despite current shortcomings of neuroscientific methods, with a further development of neuroscience and a simultaneous change in the legal systems of criminal procedures, we can expect a more concrete connection between these two areas in the future. I believe that neuroscientific methods will become more reliable and thus gain importance in criminal procedure.
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