science is changing rapidly, and the law needs to change with it
- Written by Laura Dawes, Research Fellow in Medico-Legal History, Australian National University
US defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz once said:
I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It’s impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the important role of being wrong and of mistakes.
The Kathleen Folbigg case shows that scientific development will sometimes retrospectively...