Handling uncertainty in a court of law
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch Law Review : Juta Law
Abstract
The ability to analyse uncertainty does not reside within most people's experience. Certain fallacies frequently appear. An important example is the so-called prosecutor's fallacy. It is a specific error of logic commonly made when arguments involving probabilities are considered. Since these errors keep happening and people tend to avoid reasoning in terms of probability theory, courts do not always come to the best possible conclusion in matters involving uncertainty. In this paper we discuss different aspects of faulty reasoning concerning uncertainty in legal matters.
Description
CITATION: Muller, M. A. 2012. Handling uncertainty in a court of law. Stellenbosch Law Review, 23(3):599-609.
The original publication is available at http://reference.sabinet.co.za/document/EJC137008
The original publication is available at http://reference.sabinet.co.za/document/EJC137008
Keywords
Probabilities, Uncertainty -- Mathematical models, Evidence (Law)
Citation
Muller, M. A. 2012. Handling uncertainty in a court of law. Stellenbosch Law Review, 23(3):599-609.