Delafontaine, Ramses

The Judge and the Historian: A Comparative and Meta-Historical Analysis of American and European Historians as Expert Witnesses in Post-1945 Litigation

2014-2018
promotor: Prof. Berber Bevernage

The courtroom offers a challenging environment to study the legal use of historical research. The forensic form of history relates to the field of public history. When historians testify in court, not only their research but also history itself is judged. With a rising number of historians active as expert witnesses, both in the USA and Europe, forensic history is increasingly important for the historical profession. The main goal of Delafontaine’s research is the expansion of our understanding of the use of history in a forensic context and of the consequences of the judicial use historical facts. In order to achieve this goal, he combines a theoretical and an empirical approach. The theoretical approach examines the phenomenon of forensic historiography by applying analytical tools which have recently been developed in the fields of meta- and public history. The empirical approach will focus on three extensive case studies. Tobacco, lead-paint, and asbestos litigation provide thought-provoking instances of historians testifying in court. Delafontaine will reflect on the extent to which historians and their historical accounts are influenced by legal contexts.

Keywords: law, class actions, forensic history, public history, expert witnesses, tort litigation, litigation-driven history, philosophy of history, comparative history

Publications:
www.thejudgeandthehistorian.ugent.be
Delafontaine, Ramses. Historians as Expert Judicial Witnesses in Tobacco Litigation: a Controversial Legal Practice. Ed. Mortimer Sellers & Georges Martyn. Vol. 4. Cham, Heidelberg, New York, Dortrecht, London: Springer International Publishing, 2015.

Contact: Ramses.Delafontaine@UGent.be