Beyond Legitimate Science: The Case for Policy-related Science

The legal view of science has changed through time, moving from a more positivist and noncritical position of law towards science to a critical view of science – providing the potential for more objective knowledge, but value-laden as well - and of the role of society. This paper explores some judicial cases that illustrate these attitudes, suggesting that reference to science (particularly to EBM) can be rigourously and equitably made when it serves the cause of transparency and democratisation both in science and in law, as the tendency towards a policy-related science is suggesting.