The Australian Academy of Science and Australian Academy of Law are holding what is the first joint symposium between the two academies and their respective disciplines on Thursday evening 23 August in Sydney.
The topic for debate is
‘Are You Sure?’
This will involve discussions around:
– scientific certainty compared with legal certainty, and scientific decision-making compared with decision-making by the courts
– the difference between the scientific assessment of evidence and the assessment of evidence by the courts
– the different notions of what is evidence and the different timeframes for reaching a decision
– cause and effect in science and law
– unconscious predispositions (biases) of judges and witnesses
– the presentation and treatment of expert scientific evidence in the courts, and
– uncertainty as part of certainty
For the purposes of the discussion, The Hon Stephen Gageler AC, a Justice of the High Court of Australia, will chair a panel comprising:
· Professor Max Coltheart AM FAA—Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Science at Macquarie University
· Professor Kerrie Mengersen FAA—Australian Laureate Fellow and Professor of Statistics at QUT
· The Hon Chief Justice James Allsop AO—Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
· The Hon Robert French AC—Former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.
Details are:
Date: 5:00pm, Thursday, 23 August 2018
Venue: Federal Court’s Ceremonial Court, Level 21 Law Courts Building, Queen’s Square, Sydney
Cost: Free for Academy Fellows, $25 for non-fellows
Please register by 20 August via: AALSecretariat@academyoflaw.org.au
A flyer explaining the registration details is at this link.
Or contact me.
