Expert Witness Standards

The standards that are used by courts to determine who is qualified to be an expert witness are first and foremost familiarity and competency in the subject matter. The witness must possess education and knowledge of the subject, as well as practical experience and training in the subject. While there is no absolute law as to the extent of the amount of knowledge and experience is needed to qualify as an expert witness, it is encouraged that at a minimum he or she is able to put their knowledge and training together to form an opinion of absolute certainty. A voir dire examination, a reviewing process meaning “to speak the truth”, is conducted as well. The voir dire examination is based upon a series of question consisting of institutional affiliation and publications. The rationale behind this inquiry is that most lawyers and judges lack the knowledge and …show more content…
Once the proponent of the expert witness asks their questions and concludes their portion of the voir dire process the opposing attorney follows with questions that might prevent him or her from qualifying as an expert. Once the court qualifies him or her they may be recognized as an expert witness (Sapir, 2002).

The standards used in courts to determine the admissibility of expert testimonies are varied, it is most common a combination of the amount of time in experience an expert witness has along with education, training, and being board certified. However, up until 1993 the test for admissibility was the “Frye rule”, which stemmed from Frye v. United States in 1923. The “Frye rule stated that scientific evidence had to be based upon the “generally accepted” ideology within the field in question at the time, as well as being accepted by the scientific community in