Evidence-based law (EBL) is an emerging field that seeks to use the best evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed laws and regulations. It can answer questions such as: is banning mobile phone use while driving an effective way to reduce accidents?

Proponents of EBL recognise the need to base judgements of effectiveness on diverse kinds of evidence. However, they currently lack a systematic account of which kinds of evidence to look for, and how best to integrate the evidence.

The project will test whether a new philosophical theory of causal enquiry, Evidential Pluralism, can provide systematic foundations for EBL.

This project is supported by the Leverhulme Trust and runs for 3 years from 1st May 2023. The investigators are Alexandra Trofimov (RA), lecturer TBC, and Jon Williamson (PI).

Journal publications

Alexandra Trofimov: Applying Evidential Pluralism to justify legal responses to online fake news, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Online First.

Marissa LeBlanc, Jon Williamson, Francesco De Pretis, Juergen Landes & Elena Rocca: Individual consent in cluster randomised trials for non-pharmaceutical interventions: Going beyond the Ottawa Statement, Critical Public Health 34(1): 2338074, 2024. doi: 10.1080/09581596.2024.2338074

Blogs & notes

Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson: Better Evaluation Using Evidential Pluralism, Evaluative Practice 2024(03), UK Evaluation Society, 2024.

Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson: How should we integrate diverse evidence when evaluating policies?, UPEN, 2024.

Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson: EBP+: Integrating science into policy evaluation using Evidential Pluralism, European Commission Knowledge for Policy platform, 2024.

Alexandra Trofimov: Evidential Pluralism as a methodology for Evidence-Based Law, The Reasoner 18(4): 30-31, 2024.

Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson: Evidential Pluralism and IARC, IARC Monographs News 6: 3, 2023.

Activities & talks

5 December 2024. Alexandra Trofimov. Using Evidential Pluralism to Integrate Diverse Evidence in Policy Evaluation, Climate Nudge research seminar.

3 October 2024. Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov & Jon Williamson. Evidential Pluralism: Integrating evidence and overcoming the limitations of existing evaluation guidance. UK Evaluation Society, online.

24-25 September 2024. Jon Williamson. An introduction to Evidential Pluralism: establishing causal claims in education and evaluating educational policies. First International Workshop on Evidential Pluralism in Education, Växjö, Sweden.

12-13 September 2024. Jon Williamson. Evidential Pluralism for establishing causal claims in economics and evaluating economic policies. The Plurality of Evidence and Causality in Economics, Kraków.

28-30 August 2024. Alexandra Trofimov. Applying Evidential Pluralism to evidence-based law: EBL+, ENPOSS, Bergen.

27-29 June 2024. Jon Williamson. Towards science-friendly epistemology, Philosophy of Science and Epistemology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

23-25 June 2024. Alexandra Trofimov. Evidential Pluralism as a Methodology for Incorporating Behavioural Sciences in Public Policy Evaluation, International Behavioural Public Policy Conference, Cambridge, UK.

6-9 June 2024. Alexandra Trofimov. Applying Evidential Pluralism to evidence-based law: EBL+, Law and Society Association, Denver.

2-4 May 2024, Jon Williamson. The evidential role of the key characteristics of carcinogens, EpiCause, Linz.

28 March 2024, Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson. Integrating quantitative and qualitative studies: the philosophy of Evidential Pluralism. The Evidence Quarter, London.

21 March 2024, Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson. Integrating quantitative and qualitative studies: the philosophy of Evidential Pluralism. NHS Analytical Academy.

5 March 2024. Alexandra Trofimov: Why Do We Need Evidence Based Law? Evidence Seminar, University of Kent.

9 January 2024, Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson. Integrating quantitative and qualitative studies: the philosophy of Evidential Pluralism. European Commission Evidence-Informed Policy Making network.

13 December 2023, Jon Williamson. The evidential role of the key characteristics of carcinogens, Imperial College London.

16 November 2023. Jon Williamson: A New Framework for Causal Inference in the Health and Social Sciences, National Institutes of Health. Recording.

2-3 November 2023. Jon Williamson: Evidential Pluralism in medicine and the law, Causation and Evidence in Medicine and Public Health, KCL.

26 October 2023. Jon Williamson: XAI from the perspective of Evidential Pluralism, Causal XAI, Queen Mary, London.

10 October 2023. Symposium on Evidence-Based Policy and Regulation. Organised by Alexandra Trofimov.

3-4.20pm: Bert Leuridan (Antwerp) ‘Rethinking Evidence-Based Management’
4.20-5.30pm: Jaakko Kuorikoski (Helsinki) ‘The Logic of Regulatory Impact Assessment: From Evidence to Evidentail Reasoning’

26 September 2023. Jon Williamson: The role of data in evidence-based policy and in systems science, Beyond Data: New Challenges in Data-Driven Social Science, Helsinki, 26-27 September 2023.

16-18 September 2023. Jon Williamson: Applying Evidential Pluralism to evidence-based law, IVRJ 2023, Chiba University.

12 September 2023. Joe Jones, Alexandra Trofimov & Michael Wilde: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence: The Philosophy of Evidential Pluralism, UK Evaluation Society.

30 August – 1 September 2023. Jon Williamson: Where do we stand on maximal entropy? Progic, Utrecht.

26-27 June 2023. Jon Williamson: Mechanisms and processes in causal enquiry, Reconciling new mechanism and processualism, Exeter.

22-23 June 2023. Jon Williamson: The need for interdisciplinarity in causal enquiry, Methodological innovations for interdisciplinary research and practice, Østfold University College, Norway.

22-23 June 2023. Alexandra Trofimov: Fake News Legislation: A case study on Evidential Pluralism and Interdisciplinarity, Methodological innovations for interdisciplinary research and practice, Østfold University College, Norway.

30 May 2023. Symposium on evidence-based law. Organised by Alexandra Trofimov.

3pm – 3.15pm: Welcome
3.15pm – 4pm: Alexandra Trofimov (Kent) ‘Introduction to project: EBL+ New Philosophical Foundations for Evidence Based Law’
4pm – 4.15pm: Break
4.15pm – 5pm: Rebecca Helm (Exeter) ‘Plea Based Sentence Reductions: Ethics and Empiricism’
5pm – 5.30pm: Alexandra Trofimov (Kent) ‘Applying Evidential Pluralism to Plea Based Sentence Reductions’

22 May 2023. Alexandra Trofimov, Michael Wilde & Jon Williamson: Evidential Pluralism, the Magenta Book and Fake News, UK Evaluation Task Force lunch and learn session.

18 May 2023. Jon Williamson: Heuristics for causal enquiry from the perspective of Evidential Pluralism, Heuristics and Causality in the Sciences (HaCitS 2023), University College London.

18 May 2023. Alexandra Trofimov: Fake News Legislation: Heuristics Vs. Evidential Pluralism, Heuristics and Causality in the Sciences (HaCitS 2023), University College London.