Formal Approaches to Legal Reasoning

Ext Led Uni of Sydney: This project will use formal epistemology to improve our understanding of existing legal practices and to propose recommendations for improving the consistency and accuracy of legal proceedings. Since judges and juries rarelyknow all the relevant facts, they must make the best decision possible in the face of uncertainty. Formalepistemology employs probabilistic reasoning to advance our understanding of how to form beliefs and makedecisions in response to uncertain evidence. The project will address in particular the use of statistical evidence intrials and the aggregation of individuals beliefs to reach group decisions in juries and judicial panels.