Science and judicial proceedings--seventy-six years on

The intersection of law and science, particularly in relation to causality and the legal concept of causation, were of considerable interest to Sir Owen Dixon. In this article, revisiting Dixon's 1933 lecture "Science and Judicial Proceedings", the Chief Justice refers to Dixon's deep interest in science and the issues to which it can give rise in legal proceedings. The 1933 lecture followed shortly after the judgment of the High Court in Australian Knitting Mills Ltd v Grant (1933) 50 CLR 387 which involved consideration of expert testimony and causal connections between product characteristics and personal injury to the consumer.