Abstract
Can litigation make decision to avoid the risks associated with science and technology? It has been said that litigation is ill-suited to take appropriate precaution because (1) preventive litigation necessarily makes important policy and it intrudes into the function of the legislative and executive branches, and (2) judges cannot understand scientific-technological matters properly and they are not able to make good judgments. But, legislative and executive branches also have difficulty in dealing with those problems. Courts have a various kind of means to gather information and potential for a high degree of participation through no bureaucratic structure. Certainly, judges have difficulty in understanding scientific evidence. Scientists who have worked as expert witness criticize that judges lack basic knowledge about scientific uncertainty and adversary system distorts the points of evidence. But, we can make alternative way to improve the judicial process. it is possible that judges remove themselves from their traditional image of “sound science” and enhance their understanding of “scientific uncertainty” to discern among risk, uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance. As a procedural model, this article propose “a model of public law remedies” that situate remedial stage as essence of litigation. The court’s role is to structure a deliberative process whereby the stakeholders including experts and scientists develop preventive decision and remedial solution. Judicial Process can be a model forum for social decision-making to avoid risks.
