scholarly journals Scientists as Experts Serving the Court

Daedalus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-163
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Rubinfeld ◽  
Joe S. Cecil

Our courts were not designed to consider the increasingly complex scientific and technical evidence needed to resolve contemporary legal disputes. Moreover, when conflicting evidence requires an understanding and interpretation of scientific or technical issues, allowing the parties to control the presentation of evidence places great strain on the judge and jury. This essay describes and evaluates three prototypical procedures that allow courts to appoint scientists and other experts independent of the parties to assist the court: 1) The appointment of an expert to advise the court and the parties regarding a disputed scientific issue by testifying in open court and being cross-examined by the parties; 2) The appointment of a “technical advisor” who assists the judge regarding scientific issues in much the same way that a law clerk assists regarding legal issues; and 3) The appointment of a special master who takes responsibility for the resolution of a portion of the case and prepares a written report for consideration by the court.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 609-618
Author(s):  
George Tsitsas ◽  
Chavdar Kolev ◽  
Liliana Radoi ◽  
Vlad Petrila

This publication provides an overview of the current technical and contractual trends that govern the execution of micro-tunneling projects in both Romania and Bulgaria. Technical issues discussed include available equipment and technologies, aspects related to the complexity and challenges of these works, comparisons between the open trench and trenchless methods, environmental impact, and other. Legal issues discussed include contractual schemes, relationship between the parties involved, dispute resolution, and contract types in compliance with both the national as well as the European Union law. Appropriate technical equipment is recommended to avoid risk in implementation and ensure the quality of finished products.


Author(s):  
Peter Feldschreiber

This book focuses on the science and regulatory policy and law surrounding the discovery, development, and marketing of new medicines. It reviews consumer protection and intellectual property laws that are applicable to the development and commercialisation of medicinal products. It also provides a deeper understanding of the scientific and technical issues for lawyers and legal issues for those involved with regulatory policy and decision-making, such as senior executives in the pharmaceutical industry. The book covers the European and UK legislation on medicines and healthcare products together with the UK implementing legislation and instruments, and key case law. It discusses the structure and function of the regulatory authorities, applications to carry out clinical trials, intellectual property issues, product liability issues, and litigation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-76
Author(s):  
Ann Heirman

According to tradition, the first Buddhist nun, Mah?praj?pat?, accepted eight fundamental rules as a condition for her ordination. One of these rules says that a full ordination ceremony, for a nun, must be carried out in both orders: first in the nuns’ order, and then in the monks’ order. Both orders need to be represented by a quorum of legal witnesses. It implies that in the absence of such a quorum, an ordination cannot be legally held, in vinaya terms. This was a major problem in fifth century China, when, as a result of a wave of vinaya translations, monastics became aware of many detailed legal issues, including the rule on a dual ordination for nuns. Since the first Buddhist nuns in China were ordained in the presence of monks only, doubt was raised on the validity of the Chinese nuns’ lineage. The discussion came to an end, however, when in ca. 433 a so-called ‘second ordination ceremony’ could be held, now in the presence of a sufficient number of Sinhalese nun witnesses. Today, a similar issue is raised again, since in two of the three active Buddhist ordination traditions, nuns arguably cannot be legally ordained due to the absence of a nuns’ order of that particular tradition to provide a legal quorum of witnesses. In the present-day debates on the possible (re-)introduction of a nuns’ lineage in both these traditions, the historic case of the fifth century Chinese nuns is often referred to. The present article examines firstly in which ways technical issues discussed fifteen centuries ago lingered on among the most prominent Chinese vinaya masters, and secondly how these same issues still fuel and influence present-day discussions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Whited ◽  
Kevin T. Larkin

Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to stress are well documented, with some studies showing women having greater heart rate responses than men, and men having greater blood pressure responses than women, while other studies show conflicting evidence. Few studies have attended to the gender relevance of tasks employed in these studies. This study investigated cardiovascular reactivity to two interpersonal stressors consistent with different gender roles to determine whether response differences exist between men and women. A total of 26 men and 31 women were assigned to either a traditional male-oriented task that involved interpersonal conflict (Conflict Task) or a traditional female-oriented task that involved comforting another person (Comfort Task). Results demonstrated that women exhibited greater heart rate reactions than men independent of the task type, and that men did not display a higher reactivity than women on any measure. These findings indicate that sex of participant was more important than gender relevance of the task in eliciting sex differences in cardiovascular responding.


1975 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 505-506
Author(s):  
HAROLD GRAFF
Keyword(s):  

1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 833-833
Author(s):  
No authorship indicated
Keyword(s):  

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