Members of the Memorial University community and the public are invited to join us for the 2025 Francis Forbes Annual Law Lecture, co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Law Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Dr. Bernadette McSherry (Professor of Law Emertia, University of Melbourne) will deliver a public lecture titled, "Preventive Justice: The Quest for Certainty in Predicting Future Harm".

The term "preventive justice" was first used in the 18th century and linked to laws aimed at preventing future crime. In many jurisdictions based on the common law, the past few decades have seen preventive justice schemes reinvigorated in association with a focus on risk assessment tools aimed at predicting the risk of future harmful behaviour. Recently, predictive machine learning algorithms have been used to inform judicial decision-making, including sentencing.

Using case studies, this lecture will explore some of the legal and ethical issues raised by preventive justice schemes and will consider whether the quest for certainty in predicting future harm is any closer to being fulfilled.

All are welcome!

7 MAY, 2025. 7-9 PM

INCO INNOVATION CENTRE LECTURE THEATRE 2001

FREE PARKING IN ADJACENT LOT 17

MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

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Location: INCO Innovation Centre, Lecture Theatre 2001

Date and Time: Wednesday, May. 7 at 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM (NDT)

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