2009 Volume 7 Pages 118-126
In a judicial trial, science meets society. As an expert witness, the author appeared before the judge and experienced how science was treated in a court. From the experience, and from the survey on the records of adjudication and submitted scientific evidences into courts, the author found the lack of fairness in scientific discussion in a court. The author reports and discusses the problems in the following order: 1) why science is required into a court, 2) typical scientific discussion in a Japanese court, 3) conflict between Japanese rules of civil procedure and the fairness of scientific discussion, 4) false image of science in a judicial circle, 5) the relation between the expected role of expert witness and scientist’s code, 6) the problem of the traditional science education, which has led misunderstanding of science in a judicial circle. Finally, we discuss the need for cooperative action between scientists and lawyers.
