Expert Evidence, Judicial Reasoning, and the Family Courts Information Pilot
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11449485 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tony Ward (0000-0002-6292-2364, University of Hull, corresponding author), Anthony B Ward (0000-0002-9785-9158) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 515-540 |
| Publication date | 2012-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Law and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0263-323X • E-ISSN: 1467-6478 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-6478.2012.00598.x |
| OpenAlex | W2091233568 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
The Family Courts Information Pilot took a modest step towards open justice in Children Act cases by publishing 161 judgments of the County Courts and Family Proceedings Courts. Combining socio‐legal and philosophical analysis on lines inspired by the work of Habermas, this article examines the epistemology of expert testimony implicit in the judgments. What emerges is a form of reasoning based on ‘inference to the best explanation’: judges seek to show that the best explanation for experts saying what they do is that they have good reasons for their opinions. While this approach is not blindly deferential, it has serious limitations in cases where the only experts are local authority social workers and the guardian, and an awareness of these limitations is one reason for the courts' willingness to allow other experts to be instructed. The article also criticizes the analysis of the courts’ use of experts by the recent Family Justice Review
Economic Justice · Epistemology · Guardian · Inference · Political science · Project commissioning · Publishing · Sociology · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Law · Legal Education and Practice Innovations · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.43 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2023 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |