Los sesgos en el conocimiento judicial : Para un control del sentido común y de la pseudo-ciencia

Legal literature is increasing the attention directed towards the harmful stereotypes at different procedural stages, from pre-trial phase to sentencing. In this paper, the analysis of judicial stereotyping, as a malpractice of judicial argumentation, will focus on the court judgement. After highlighting the fundamental role of motivation as a place where judicial decisions can be monitored (2) and where judicial stereotyping can be detected (3), thispaper reflects on two types of knowledge that can convey the biases of a discriminatory culture: common sense (4) and pseudo-science (5). Although they are two types of knowledge that are used in the argumentation of the judgement in order to reach a better understanding of the facts, it is necessary that the judges adopt a critical attitude in detecting the potentially underlying discriminatory practices present in both forms of knowledge.