Epidemiology at the Bar: A Legal Proof on Causation with Cancer Epidemiological Results

The development of natural science has revealed causal relationships that we did not know about through scientific hypotheses and verification. Therefore, given enough time, the causal relationship between the controversial toxic substances and disease outbreaks will be largely elucidated. However, in the courtroom, the judge cannot wait for that moment, and must make a legal value judgment on the causal relationship as a condition for establishing a tort. In other words, the responsibility for who will compensate for the actual damage must be attributed to which party. This study examines the evidence of epidemiological findings in today’s risk society. In particular, we deal with cases where there is no way to prove a causal relationship other than epidemiological data in a lawsuit for compensation for damages caused by harmful substances such as cigarettes. This study seeks to find a way to appropriately evaluate the value of evidence by correctly interpreting and rationally utilizing the results of epidemiological studies in court through a pragmatic pluralistic approach.