Assisting the Defendant in Unlocking His Smartphone: Is Coercion Permissible?

The author of the article discusses whether an investigator in the interests of evidence has the right to demand from the accused to help him unlock his smartphone. The main attention is paid to the conceptual dimension of the problem. Possible forms of coercion: requesting a password, demanding unlocking, using biometrics, are examined in the light of the rule of nemo tenetur (the right not to testify against oneself). The scope of this rule and the possibility of exceptions, the problem of its mandatory clarification and the consequences of violations are considered. At the end of the article the practical complexity of the raised issue is revealed, its connection with the criminal procedural policy of the State is demonstrated, and an assumption is made about a possible vector of its solution. Turning to foreign law, the author takes into account the experience of the USA and Germany as bright representatives of different models of criminal procedure.