Competence
Definition
The duty to opine only within the expert's validated area of expertise, using methods that are scientifically sound and, in most jurisdictions, generally accepted in the relevant field. Competence also requires the expert to keep knowledge current.
- Domain
- Expert witness ethics and codes of conduct
- Core duty
- Opine only within validated area of expertise
- Method requirement
- Scientifically sound, generally accepted methods
- Ongoing obligation
- Keep knowledge current
Common questions
What happens when a case touches an area just outside an expert's core specialism?+
The expert is expected to either decline to opine on that specific point, bring in or defer to a co-expert with the relevant specialism, or clearly flag the limits of their competence in the report, rather than extending an opinion beyond what their training and validated methods support.
How does competence differ from general acceptance of a method?+
General acceptance concerns whether the field as a whole recognises a method as sound, while competence is about the individual expert's own training, experience, and up-to-date knowledge in applying that accepted method; an expert can be incompetent to apply a method that is itself perfectly valid.
Related terms
- Accreditation
- Formal recognition by a standards body (such as UKAS in the UK, A2LA in the US, or NABL in India) that a...
- Disclosure Duty
- The obligation to report all material findings, including those that undermine the instructing party's position. Negative results, method limitations, known error rates,...
- Duty to the Court
- The obligation of expert witnesses in UK proceedings (and, to varying degrees, in other jurisdictions) to assist the court with objective, unbiased...
- Gatekeeping
- The judicial function, codified in the United States by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) and Federal Rule of Evidence 702, of...
- Independence
- The requirement that an expert's opinion is formed solely on the evidence and the expert's own professional judgment, free from pressure from...