Il processo e la “poligonia del vero”

This paper clarifies some of the dynamics involved in determining the truth of a trial. It is developed in two parts. The first part introduces the relationship between truth and trial, distinguishing three different concretisations of the nexus: truth in the trial, which is achieved by following the prescriptions of the rite; truth of the trial, which implies, on the other hand, the conformity of the rite with the canons of a model considered ideal; and truth about the trial, which arises from the media narratives of the trial affair, which not infrequently disrupt the proper functioning of systems of administration of justice. The second part offers a legal interpretation of Gioberti’s doctrine of the “polygony of truth”, exploring its links with the experience of the trial. The essay concludes by mentioning some epistemological problems that characterize procedural truth. These are heterogeneous aspects related to the doxastic nature of judicial gnoseology, the retrospective character of the judgment and the peculiar physiognomy that the representation of fact assumes in the trial.