Science for Judges - Development of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 4th Edition

《科学证据参考手册》是联邦法官关于诉讼中的科学问题的主要参考资料。它不仅被联邦法官使用，也被州法官、律师、法律学者和法律系学生使用。它的实用性和广泛使用是因为它在可能出现在专家证词中的领域公平和平衡地提出了科学方法论的基本原则。自《参考手册》最后一版(第三版)出版以来，已经过去了十年，其中许多章节需要更新，以适应科学和法律方面的最新发展。例如，关于DNA鉴定的章节需要更新，以考虑到新的基因测试技术和方法，关于神经科学的章节必须考虑到检测神经活动的新途径。新版本还需要解决近年来在诉讼中变得重要的新兴科学领域。美国国家科学院、工程院和医学会科学、技术和法律委员会与联邦司法中心(FJC)--美国政府司法部门的研究和教育机构--合作，同意继续开发第四版《参考手册》。该手册最终使社会受益，因为它提高了司法机构评估科学证据的严格性。将召集一个由10-12名成员组成的委员会，代表法律和科学/工程/医学界，在联邦司法委员会的参与下制定新版手册。新版将包括对前一版《参考手册》章节的更新，以及反映与法院相关的新兴科学、技术和医学领域的新章节。该委员会将选择要纳入手册的主题，委托专家作者修改现有章节或起草新的章节，审查所有章节草稿，批准外部审查的章节，提交外部审查手册，并根据外部审查意见的需要监督章节修订。该项目由以下NSF部门共同资助：社会科学和经济学；化学；信息和智能系统；计算机和网络系统；ITR/CEISE信息技术研究；工程教育和中心；分子和细胞生物学；学习中的研究。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence is a primary reference source for federal judges on questions of science in litigation. It is used not only by federal judges, but by state judges, attorneys, legal scholars, and law students. Its utility and widespread use is the result of the fair and balanced presentation it provides of fundamental principles of scientific methodology in areas likely to arise in expert testimony. Ten years have passed since the publication of the last (third) edition of the Reference Manual, and many of the chapters need updating to account for recent developments in science and law. For example, the chapter on DNA identification needs updating to take into account new genetic testing techniques and methodologies, andthe chapter on neuroscience must take account of new approaches for detecting neural activity. A new edition will also need to address emerging areas of science that have become important in litigation in recent years. The Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in collaboration with the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) – the research and education agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. government – have agreed to pursue the development of a fourth edition of the Reference Manual. The manual ultimately benefits society by increasing the rigor with which the judiciary evaluates scientific evidence.A committee of 10-12 members representing both the legal and scientific/ engineering/ medical communities will be convened to develop new edition of the manual with input from the FJC. The new edition will include updates of chapters from the previous edition of the Reference Manual as well as new chapters that reflect emerging areas of science, technology, and medicine relevant to the courts. The committee will select the topics to be included in the manual, commission expert authors to revise the current chapters or draft new ones, review all draft chapters, approve the chapters for external review, submit the manual for external review, and oversee chapter revisions as necessitated by external review comments.This project was co-funded by the following NSF Divisions: Social and Economic Sciences; Chemistry; Information and Intelligent Systems; Computer and Network Systems; ITR/CISE Information Technology Research; Engineering Education and Centers; Molecular and Cellular Biology; Research in Learning.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.