The Problem of Admissibility of the Evidence Obtained Through Use of Hypnosis

As of today, hypnosis is a little-studied phenomenon from both the criminal law and the medical side. If used meaningfully, hypnosis can be both a medicine and a way to get evidence. Using hypnosis and other methods of mental and bioenergetic influence, of course, you can achieve positive therapeutic results. At the same time, using various forms of mental surveillance can have significant negative consequences for law enforcement interests. Due to the study of certain problems and the introduction of the necessary legislative changes is an urgent issue to create a full and effective implementation of one of the basic principles of criminal law - the inevitability of punishment. As a result of the relevant changes, an additional legal guarantee will be applied to protect the rights and interests of the individual, which is applied by hypnosis. It is because of the lack of legal regulation of such relations that the so-called "criminal hypnotists" remain beyond the reach of the punishing sword of Themis: "ubi non est lex, ibi non est transgression" - there, there is no law and does not exist. With previously hypnotized witnesses, as with suggestive lineups, a per se rule excluding evidence that may be reliable and relevant goestoo far.' Because a hypnotized subject is extremely susceptible tosuggestion from a variety of sources, however, the court must carefullyscrutinize the hypnotic process utilized. Without such scrutiny, a court,even aided by expert testimony, cannot determine the reliability of cer-tain evidence. Although the safeguards promulgated by Dr. Orne are "expensive'' and time consuming, their use would result in as full andaccurate a record of the entire process as possible The article is devoted to the main issues concerning the possibility for courts to accept testimony obtained through the use of hypnosis. Given the fact that both experimental and clinical data indicate that the use of hypnosis appears increased suggestibility, the article considers the positions of the courts on the issue of admissibility of such evidence