CALL FOR PAPERS: TRUTH AND AUTHORITY IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 23-24 OCTOBER 2025, MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY

On 23 and 24 October 2025, the Maastricht Institute for Criminal Sciences will organise – in collaboration with partners within and outside the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University – a multidisciplinary two dayconference in Maastricht on “Truth and Authority in Criminal Justice”. The conference builds on the notion that – in both the popular and the scholarly debate – there is an increasing concern that we are living in the midst of a “post-truth” or “post-factual” society, which is essentially characterised by a particular distrust in public truth claims and in authority to be a legitimate public truth-teller. The goal of the conference is to explore how post-truth narratives and politics may influence and challenge criminal law.

We welcome abstracts and suggestions for panels related to the following four subthemes:

Conspiracy Theories and Crime
Technology as the authority in legal fact-finding
Criminalisation challenges in a post-truth society
Truth & Authority and the International Legal Order

Submission of abstracts

Academic scholars, professionals, practitioners, and PhD-students from various academic disciplines (such as law, criminology, psychology, political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology and other relevant practice based fields) are encouraged to apply. The deadline for submissions of abstracts (max. 200 words) is due 28 February 2025. Please note that it is also possible to submit a proposal for a pre-arranged panel. The organisation committee will inform the applicants on 16 May 2025 ultimately whether their submission is accepted.

Click here to submit your abstract