Les sciences sociales saisies par la justice

Social scientists have been lately more and more often confronted to justice, either on the side of the accusation, or on the side of the defence. They may be accused of incompetence, libel or refusal to disclose important data or the names of their sources. They may also intervene in trials as expert-witnesses in order to help judges to come to a decision. Either case entails numerous questions about the status of social scientists. Doesn’t the fact that they are increasingly prosecuted demonstrate a lack of protection for those who practise this profession? Moreover, doesn’t the participation in trials as expert-witnesses knock together the « truth » of the scholar and the « truth » of the judge?