Truth Decay and its Implications for the Judiciary

Join us on Thursday, 26 September as we welcome Chief Justice Andrew Bell for the CIS's 21st Acton Lecture and then for a conversation about the issue of 'truth decay' with Peter Kurti, Director of the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at the CIS. This event will take place in .

In the 21st Acton Lecture presented by the Centre for Independent Studies, the Honourable Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales, examines the problem of 'truth decay' and its implications for the administration of justice in Australia.

What is the 'Truth Decay'?

"Truth Decay" refers to the gradual decline in understanding objective truth and the erosion of the distinction between evidence-based truth and subjective or relativist notions of truth. This decay highly impacts how truth is perceived and practiced in courts.

Our courts are concerned with the kind of truth that has an evidentiary basis tested by the adversarial system and one that is highly specific to the particular question brought before the court by the parties to the litigation. However, postmodern notions of subjective truth have taken hold in our society and these, in turn, are having an impact on the pursuit of the form of truth with which the courts have been concerned.

What are the characteristics of 'truth decay'? How does this decay affect the relationship between truth, honesty and justice as it applies to the judicial process? Chief Justice Bell evaluates the problem of 'truth decay' as an issue of considerable public interest and considers its implications for the rule of law and the administration of justice in Australia.

is the Chief Justice of New South Wales, appointed in March 2022. Previously, he was President of the NSW Court of Appeal and the Judicial Commission of NSW. A distinguished scholar with degrees from the University of Sydney and Oxford, Chief Justice Bell has extensive experience in law and arbitration. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney and a former Chairman of Sculpture by the Sea.

is director of the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at CIS and is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Law and Business at the University of Notre Dame Australia.

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