Criminal Law and Neuroscience: Theory and Practice in the Italian Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2022.11.01Abstract
The debate on the impact on criminal justice of the empirical evidence offered by techniques of brain exploration and behavioral genetics shows no sign of diminishing, fed by literature now boundless and by case law in constant growth. In the Italian system, the impact of neuroscience at trial is still rather limited and substantially confined to its sedes naturalis, that is to say, the insanity defense. Even in this area, however, there is a very cautious, if not sometimes distrustful, attitude on the part of the courts, still doubtful about the epistemological reliability of neuroscientific evidence. The interdisciplinary dialogue is called upon to help overcome uncertainties and resistance, to avoid the underestimation of data endowed – albeit in a complementary and integrative function – with an increasingly objective value.
Summary: 1. Foreword. - 2. Neuroscience: an outline. - Neuroscience and criminal law in the light of the radical-revolutionary model. - 4. Neuroscience and criminal law in the light of the moderate-compatibilist model. - 5. An overview of the use of “neuroscientific evidence” in practice - 6. Neuroscience and the evaluation of criminal capacity: a first assessment. - 7. The (still) limited impact of neuroscience in the Italian criminal trial. Diagnosis and prognosis. – 8. Conclusions.
References
Alimardani, Armin. 2018. “Neuroscience, criminal responsibility and sentencing in an Islamic country: Iran.” Journal of Law and the Bioscience 5(3):724-742. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsy024
Basile, Fabio and Giuseppe Vallar. 2017. “Neuroscienze e diritto penale: le questioni sul tappeto.” Diritto Penale Contemporaneo – Rivista Trimestrale (4): 269-289.
Basile, Fabio and Stefano Lometti. 2019. “Assassini nati? Libero arbitrio, genetica comportamentale e neuroscienze in una recente sentenza di Cassazione.” Diritto penale e uomo (6):123-130.
Bertolino, Marta. 2009. “Il breve cammino del vizio di mente. Un ritorno al paradigma organicistico?” Criminalia 3:325-346.
Bertolino, Marta. 2015. Il vizio di mente tra prospettive neuroscientifiche e giudizi di responsabilità penale.” Rassegna italiana di criminologia 9(2):85-98.
Bertolino, Marta. 2020. “Problematiche neuroscientifiche tra fallacie cognitive e prove di imputabilità e di pericolosità sociale.” Diritto penale e processo (1): 42-43.
Bianchi, Angelo, Guglielmo Gulotta, and Giuseppe Sartori, eds. 2009. Manuale di neuroscienze forensi. Milano: Giuffrè.
Catley, Paul and Lisa Claydon. 2015. “The use of neuroscientific evidence in the courtroom by those accused of criminal offenses in England and Wales.” Journal of Law and Bioscience 2(3):1-40. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsv025
Chandler, Jennifer A. 2015. “The use of neuroscientific evidence in Canadian criminal proceedings.” Journal of Law and Bioscience 2(3):550-579. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsv026
Collica, Maria Teresa. 2012. “Il riconoscimento del ruolo delle neuroscienze nel giudizio di imputabilità.” Diritto penale contemporaneo (www.penalecontemporaneo.it), 15 February 2012:1-26.
Collica, Maria Teresa. 2018. “Gli sviluppi delle neuroscienze sul giudizio di imputabilità.” Diritto penale contemporaneo (www.penalecontemporaneo.it), 20 February 2018:1-39.
Coppola, Federica. 2020. “Humanizing Prison through Social Neuroscience. From the Abolition of Solitary Confinement to the Pursuit of Social Rehabilitation”. Pp. 187-200 in The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy and Science of Punishment, edited by F. Focquaert, E. Shaw and B. N. Waller. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429507212-20
Coppola, Federica. 2021. The Emotional Brain and the Guilty Mind. Novel Paradigms of Culpability and Punishment. London-New York: Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509934324
Corda, Alessandro. 2013. “Riflessioni sul rapporto tra neuroscienze e imputabilità nel prisma della dimensione processuale”. Criminalia 7:497-533.
Corda, Alessandro. 2016. “La prova neuroscientifica. Possibilità e limiti di utilizzo in materia penale”. Ragion pratica 47(2):355-379.
De Kogel, Katy and Lizanne Westegeest. 2015. “Neuroscientific and Behavioral Genetic Information in Criminal Cases in the Netherlands.” Journal of Law and Bioscience 2(3):580-605. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsv024
Demetrio Crespo, Eduardo and Manuel Maroto Calatayud, eds. 2013. Neurociencias y derecho penal. Nuevas perspectivas en el ámbito de la culpabilidad y tratamiento jurídico-penal de la peligrosidad. Buenos Aires: Editorial B de F.
Demetrio Crespo, Eduardo. 2017. Fragmentos sobre Neurociencias y Derecho Penal. Buenos Aires: Editorial B de F, 2017.
Demetrio Crespo, Eduardo. 2020. “Humanist Compatibilism. A Proposal for Reconciliation Between Neuroscience and Criminal Law”. Journal of Organizational Psychology 20(3):1-17. https://doi.org/10.33423/jop.v20i3.2944
Di Florio, Mattia. 2020. Colpevolezza, conseguenze sanzionatorie e neuroscienze in rapporto al diritto penale. Pisa: Pisa University Press.
Di Giovine, Ombretta. 2014. “Neuroscienze (diritto penale)”. P. 711-735 in Enciclopedia del Diritto. Annali. Vol. 7. Milano: Giuffré.
Farahany, Nita A. 2015. “Neuroscience and behavioural genetics in US criminal law: an empirical analysis.” Journal of Law and Bioscience 2(3):485-509.
Farisco, Michele and Pietro Pietrini. 2012. “The Impact of Neuroscience and Genetics on the Law: A Recent Italian Case.” Neuroethics 5(3):317-319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-012-9152-x
Ferla, Lara. 2016. “Casi difficili e accertamenti peritali in tema di vizio di mente.” Jus-online (2):1-28.
Fornari, Ugo. 2017. “Le perizie psichiatriche tra psicoanalisi e neuroscienze”, speech at National Convention of the Italian Society of Forensic Psychiatry (Alghero, May 25-27, 2017) available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFaDUOZZbNs , consulted on December 23, 2021).
Fornari, Ugo. 2021. Trattato di psichiatria forense, 8th ed. Milano: UTET.
Garland, Brent and Mark S. Frankel. 2006. “Considering Convergence: A Policy Dialogue About Behavioral Genetics, Neuroscience, and Law”. Law & Contemporary Problems 69: 101-113.
Gazzaniga, Michael, Richard B. Ivry and George R. Mangun. 2018. Cognitive Neuroscience, 3rd ed. New York: Norton.
Gennari, Giuseppe. 2018. “La macchina della verità si è fermata a Salerno... fortunatamente.” Diritto penale contemporaneo (5):5-14.
Grandi, Ciro. 2016. Neuroscienze e responsabilità penale. Soluzioni nuove per problemi antichi? Torino: Giappichelli.
Grandi, Ciro. 2019. “Le persistenti cautele sull’uso della prova neuroscientifica nel giudizio di imputabilità.” Giurisprudenza italiana 171(1):177-185.
Grandi, Ciro. 2020. “Neuroscienze e capacità di intendere e volere: un percorso giurisprudenziale.” Diritto penale e processo (1):24-30.
Greene, Joshua and Jonathan Cohen. 2004. “For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything.” Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society Lond. B 359: 1775–1785. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1546
Haynes, John Dylan, Katsuyuki Sakai, Geraint Rees, Sam Gilbert, Chris Frith and Richard E. Passingham. 2007. “Reading Hidden Intentions in the Human Brain.” Current Biology 17:323-328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.072
Horder, Jeremy. 2016. Ashworth’s Principles of Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198753070.003.0004
Iacoviello, Vincenzo. 2016. “Le neuroscienze forensi: un progresso pericoloso.” Giornale italiano di psicologia (4):749-754.
Libet, Benjamin, Curtis A. Gleason, Elwood W. Wright and Dennis K. Pearl. 1983. “Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness-potential). The unconscious initiation of a freely voluntary act.” Brain 106:623-642. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/106.3.623
Magro, Beatrice. 2018. “Neuroscienze e teorie ‘ottimiste’ della pena. Alla ricerca del fondamento ontologico dei bisogni di pena.” Diritto penale contemporaneo (12):171-206.
Magro, Beatrice. 2019. “La mente sana e la mente alterata. Uno studio neuroscientifico sulla capacità di intendere e di volere e sul vizio di mente.” Archivio penale (3):1-33.
Mc Cay, Allan Cristopher James Ryan. 2018. “Issues pertaining to expert evidence and the reasoning about punishment in a neuroscience-based sentencing appeal.” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 65:1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.11.006
Merzagora Betsos, Isabella, Alfredo Verde, Cristiano Barbieri and Alberto Boiardi. 2014. “Come la mente mente. Un nuovo strumento per valutare la memoria.” Cassazione penale (5)1896-1915.
Merzagora Betsos, Isabella. 2020. “Il ruolo delle neuroscienze in relazione alla imputabilità e ai giudizi di predittività.” Diritto penale e processo (1): 14-23.
Morse, Stephen J and Adina L Roskies. 2013. A Primer on Criminal Law and Neuroscience: Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199859177.001.0001
Morse, Stephen J. 2017. Neuroethics: Neurolaw. Oxford Handbook Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935314.013.45
Moulin, Valerie, Caroline Mouchetb, Tessa Pillonelb, G.-M. Gkotsib, Bernard Baertschic, Jacques Gasserd and Benoit Testée. 2018. “Judges’ perceptions of expert reports: The effect of neuroscience evidence.” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 61:22-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.09.008
Musumeci, Emilia. 2021. Cesare Lombroso e le neuroscienze: un parricidio mancato. Bologna: Franco Angeli.
Palumbo, Sara, Veronica Mariotti, Caterina Iofrida and Silvia Pellegrini. 2018. “Genes and Aggressive Behavior: Epigenetic Mechanisms Underlying Individual Susceptibility to Aversive Environments.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 12:1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00117
Pellegrini, Silvia. 2010. Il ruolo dei fattori genetici nella modulazione del comportamento: le nuove acquisizioni della biologia molecolare genetica. Pp. 69-90 in Manuale di neuroscienze forensi, edited by A. Bianchi, G. Gulotta and G. Sartori. Milano: Giuffrè.
Pietrini, Pietro and Valentina Bambini. 2010. “Homo ferox: il contributo delle neuroscienze alla comprensione dei comportamenti aggressivi e criminali.” Pp. 41-67 in Manuale di neuroscienze forensi, edited by A. Bianchi, G. Gulotta and G. Sartori. Milano: Giuffrè.
Raine, Adriane and Yaling Yang. 2009. “Prefrontal structural and functional brain imaging findings in antisocial, violent, and psychopathic individuals: A meta-analysis.” Psychiatry Research 174:81-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.03.012
Raine, Adrian. 2013. The anatomy of violence: The biological roots of crime. New York: Pantheon/Random House. https://doi.org/10.1037/e569292014-001
Raine, Adriane,l Shichun Linga and Rebecca Umbachb. 2019. “Biological explanations of criminal behavior.” Psychol Crime Law 25(6): 626-640. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2019.1572753
Roskies, Adina L. 2013. “Brain Imaging Techniques”. Pp. 37-74 in A Primer on Criminal Law and Neuroscience, edited by S. Morse and A. Roskies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199859177.003.0002
Sammicheli, Luca and Giuseppe Sartori. 2009. Neuroscienze giuridiche: i diversi livelli di interazione tra diritto e neuroscienze. Pp. 15-40 in Manuale di neuroscienze forensi, edited by A. Bianchi, g. Gulotta and G. Sartori. Milano: Giuffrè.
Sammicheli, Luca and Giuseppe Sartori. 2015. “Accertamenti tecnici ed elemento soggettivo del reato.” Diritto penale contemporaneo - Rivista trimestrale (2):273-286.
Santosuosso, Amedeo, ed. 2009. Le neuroscienze e il diritto. Pavia: Ibis.
Sartori, Giuseppe and Sara Agosta. 2010. Menzogna, cervello e lie detection. Pp. 163-192 in Manuale di neuroscienze forensi, edited by A. Bianchi, g. Gulotta and G. Sartori. Milano: Giuffrè.
Sartori, Giuseppe and Sara Agosta. 2013. “The autobiographical IAT: a review.” Frontiers in Psychology 4:1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00519
Sartori, Giuseppe and Andrea Zangrossi. 2016. “Neuroscienze Forensi.” Giornale Italiano di Psicologia (4)689-711.
Scarpazza, Cristina, Silvia Pellegrini, Pietro Pietrini and Giuseppe Sartori. 2018. “The Role of Neuroscience in the Evaluation of Mental Insanity: on the Controversies in Italy”. Neuroethics (11):83-95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-017-9349-0
Scarpazza, Cristina, Stefano Ferracuti, Alessio Miolla and Giuseppe Sartori. 2018. “The charm of structural neuroimaging in insanity evaluations: guidelines to avoid misinterpretation of the findings.” Translational Psychiatry 8:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-018-0274-8
Simpson, Joseph R., ed. 2012. Neuroimaging in Forensic Psychiatry. From the Clinic to the Courtroom. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119968900
Sirgiovanni, Elisabetta, Gilberto Corbellini and Cinzia Caporale. 2016. "A recap on Italian neurolaw: epistemological and ethical issues." Mind and Society 16(1-2):1-19.
Spranger, Tade Matthias, ed. 2012. International Neurolaw: a Comparative Analysis. Berlin:Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21541-4
Walsh, Anthony, and Jonathan D. Bolen. 2012. The Neurobiology of Criminal Behavior. Gene-Brain-Culture Interaction. New York: Routledge.
Wegner, Daniel. 2002. The illusion of conscious will. Cambridge MA: Mitpress. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3650.001.0001
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Policy for Journals/Articles with Open Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work
Policy for Journals / Manuscript with Paid Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Publisher retain copyright .
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work .
