The Appropriateness of dealing with scientific evidence in the adversarial arena

The appropriateness of dealing with scientific evidence in the adversarial arena, whether in a court of law or in the context of a hearing before a quasi-judicial administrative tribunal, continues to be of concern to both counsel, who must present exceedingly technical evidence in support of their clients, interests, and the decisionmakers who must weigh this evidence in the balance in order to arrive at conclusions of "fact" before rendenng a decision. In this paper, the author reviews in some detail the way in which this type of evidence is now dealt with by courts and tribunals such as the Ontario Environmental Assessment Board of which the author is Chairman. In addition reference is also made to some alternative approaches which have been suggested as more appropriate given the nature of scientific evidence.