La communication des neurosciences au tribunal : un courant de recherche à développer [Communicating Neurosciences in Court: A Line of Research to Develop

Abstract

Neuroscientists, clinicians, and researchers alike are increasingly called upon to act as expert witnesses in court, including in Canada. Indeed, the court asks to be enlightened to rule on, for instance, the criminal responsibility of an individual or the sentence to give based on a nervous system-related cause. Even if neurosciences are a burgeoning field, communication processes involved in neurosciences expert testimonies have not been the object of the same empirical scrutiny. This article presents pitfalls in knowledge transfer, notably those of the Canadian context, and aims at encouraging the development of a line of research pertaining to the communication of neurosciences by expert witnesses in court. Several arguments are presented. Eventually, scientific discoveries unearthed by this line of research will help to develop specific guidelines, to refine experts’ practices, to maintain their credibility in court, and to optimize knowledge transfer. Some qualitative and quantitative research designs are suggested.