Evidence-Based Law Workshop

Dates:	20 June 2025
Times:	All day
What is it:	Workshop
Organiser:	School of Social Sciences
Speaker:	John Coggon, Lucy Frith, Rebecca Helm, Alexandra Trofimo, Michael Wilde

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The emerging field of evidence-based law (EBL) holds that laws ought to be based on good evidence to demonstrate that they will achieve their desired end, such as reduced crime, increased safety or improvements in social justice or well-being. Following the move to an evidence-based approach in medicine (EBM) and policy (EBP), EBL aims to use the best available evidence to justify decisions and interventions to improve effectiveness, transparency and accountability. However, while EBM and EBP have become established practices, EBL is yet to be fully implemented. A key challenge facing EBL is methodological. Legal interventions are part of highly complex social systems and, as a result, it can be difficult to isolate and assess the impact of a given legal intervention. Another key challenge relates to how evidence can be incorporated with the social and moral norms and legal reasoning traditionally used to justify laws. This interdisciplinary workshop will consider a broad range of questions and issues relating to EBL.

John Coggon (Bristol, Law) Lucy Frith (Manchester, Law) Rebecca Helm (Exeter, Law) Alexandra Trofimov (Manchester, Philosophy) Michael Wilde (Kent, KMMS)

To register, please email: alexandra.trofimov@manchester.ac.uk Registration deadline: 10th June 2025. All speakers will be in person. Attendees are welcome to join us either in person or online. Details provided on registration.

Organized by Alexandra Trofimov as part of the Leverhulme Trust project 'EBL+: New Philosophical Foundations for Evidence-Based Law'. The workshop is generously supported by the Philosophy Department, University of Manchester.