Civil Law and Neuroscience

The relationship between the brain and human behaviour is receiving increasing attention in legal practice. Much has already been published about the role of neuroscience in criminal law, but surprisingly little is known about its role in civil law. In this contribution, the relevance of neuroscientific insights within the civil law context will be demonstrated on the basis of examples in international publications from both continental and Anglo-American jurisdictions. Furthermore, a number of cases will be presented that demonstrate that neuroscientific information is already appearing in Dutch courtrooms in a broad array of civil law areas. These include liability law, health law, family law and contract law. The use of neuroscientific knowledge in civil law cases raises a number of general questions, regardless the jurisdiction, which will be identified on the basis of the literature and case law. © 2013 © 2013 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.