Daubert Standard
Definition
The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with known error rates and general acceptance in the relevant scientific community. Racial typological testimony in forensic anthropology is vulnerable to Daubert challenge; population-affinity testimony supported by FORDISC posterior probabilities is substantially more defensible.
- Jurisdiction
- US federal courts
- Origin
- Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993)
- Governs
- Admissibility of expert testimony
- Replaced
- Frye standard, in federal court
Common questions
What is the Daubert standard?+
It is the rule US federal judges use to decide whether an expert's scientific testimony is reliable enough to be heard. The judge acts as a gatekeeper, examining the method behind the testimony rather than just the expert's credentials.
What are the Daubert factors?+
Courts commonly weigh whether the technique can be and has been tested, whether it has been peer reviewed and published, its known or potential error rate, whether standards control how it is carried out, and whether it is generally accepted in the relevant field.
How is Daubert different from the Frye standard?+
Frye asks only whether a method is generally accepted in its field. Daubert is broader: general acceptance is just one of several factors, and the judge independently assesses reliability. Federal courts follow Daubert, while some states still apply Frye.
Related terms
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- Likelihood Ratio (LR)
- The ratio of two conditional probabilities: the probability of the observed evidence given the prosecution's hypothesis (same source), divided by the probability...
- CrimPR Part 19
- Criminal Procedure Rules Part 19 (England and Wales): the expert-witness procedural code requiring disclosure of qualifications, methodology, limitations, and whether the method...
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA)
- India's current evidence statute, which replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872. Section 63 of the BSA governs electronic records and requires a...
- BSA 2023 § 39
- Section 39 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, the provision governing expert opinion evidence in Indian courts. Replaced Indian Evidence Act 1872...
- Expert Witness
- A person whose specialised knowledge is accepted by a court and who gives opinion evidence, not just factual evidence. Forensic auditors frequently...
- ISO/IEC 17025
- The international standard for testing and calibration laboratories, published jointly by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. It...
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- 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...
- PCAST 2016
- President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 2016 report 'Forensic Science in Criminal Courts', which assessed foundational validity of forensic disciplines...
- SWGANTH
- Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology. A US expert panel that produced guidance documents (2008-2013) on standards for forensic anthropological practice, now...
- Voir Dire
- A preliminary hearing at which a court tests whether a proposed witness or item of evidence meets the legal admissibility threshold. In...
Explained in these topics
- ABFA, SWGANTH, ENFSI FAWG and the Quality FrameThe US Supreme Court's 1993 reliability test for expert testimony (Daubert v. Merrell Dow), requiring testing of the method, peer review, known error rates, an...
- Accident Reconstruction Physics: Velocity, Momentum and Skid MarksUS federal court standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow, 1993) requiring expert testimony to be based on sufficient facts, reliable methods, and reliable application...
- Admissibility and Ethics: Daubert, Frye, R v. Doheny and ELSIThe admissibility rule from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (US Supreme Court, 1993) requiring federal trial judges to assess scientific testimony for r...
- Admissibility: Frye, Daubert and Cross-Jurisdiction RulesThe reliability-based test from Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (US Supreme Court, 1993), now codified in Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Trial judges act...
- Admissibility of Engineering Opinions: Daubert and BeyondThe US federal admissibility test for expert scientific and technical testimony, requiring the trial judge to assess reliability via four non-exclusive factors...
- Admissibility Standards Around the WorldThe reliability framework established by the US Supreme Court in Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc (1993) and codified in Federal Rule of Evidence 702....
- Bias and Disparate Impact in Face and Fingerprint MatchingUS federal admissibility standard for expert testimony under Fed. R. Evid. 702 (after Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993): expert opinions must be ba...
- Cognitive Bias, Expert Testimony and the 2009 NAS CritiqueThe US federal court expert-admissibility test established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requiring that expert methodology be testable, pee...
- Computer-Assisted Handwriting Analysis: FISH, WANDA, CEDARThe US Supreme Court standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow, 1993) requiring that scientific expert testimony be based on methods that are testable, peer-reviewed, h...
- Cyber Investigation Reporting and Court PresentationThe admissibility test for expert testimony in US federal courts (and most state courts), derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). Requires...
- Digital Imaging Evidence and Court AdmissibilityThe US federal court framework for expert evidence admissibility (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring testability, peer review, known error...
- Disputed Authorship in Literature and HistoryThe U.S. federal standard for admissibility of expert testimony, derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). It requires that the method be tes...
- Ethics, Quality Standards, and Expert Witness PracticeThe US federal court admissibility test for expert evidence established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requiring a trial judge to assess whe...
- Expert Evidence and Statistical Interpretation in CourtA US Federal Rules of Evidence standard (from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring the trial judge to assess whether scientific evidence is...
- The Expert Geologist: Qualification, Report, and AdmissibilityThe US federal test for scientific expert admissibility established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). Judges apply four factors (testability, p...
- Expert Reporting and Court Testimony in Forensic BotanyThe US federal admissibility test from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requiring a judge to assess whether expert evidence is based on tested an...
- Expert Testimony and Court StandardsThe admissibility test for expert testimony in US federal courts established by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requiring the judge to determine...
- Expert Testimony and the 2009 NAS Critique of Fingerprint IDThe reliability gatekeeping framework for expert evidence in US federal courts (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993), implemented through Federal Rule...
- Expert Witness Testimony and Cognitive Bias MitigationThe US Supreme Court's 1993 ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow that requires trial judges to act as gatekeepers who assess whether expert testimony is based on s...
- Expert Witness Testimony in Fraud CasesA US evidentiary standard requiring the trial judge to screen proposed expert testimony for scientific validity before it reaches the jury. Originates from Dau...
- Expert Witness Testimony on Media EvidenceThe admissibility test applied in US federal courts and most US states, originating in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). The trial judge evaluates...
- Fire Scene Examination and the NFPA 921 Systematic MethodologyThe admissibility standard for expert opinion in US federal courts (and most state courts) derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requirin...
- fMRI Lie Detection and the Cephos / No Lie MRI DebateThe US federal admissibility standard for expert scientific evidence from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993): is the theory testable, has it been pe...
- Forensic-Psychology Expert Witness and Daubert / Frye ChallengesThe gatekeeping framework from Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993), requiring US federal trial judges to evaluate scientific testimony on four factors: testability,...
- Forensic Psychology: Foundations, History and ScopeThe US federal admissibility framework from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 1993, requiring that expert scientific testimony be based on peer-reviewed,...
- Forensic Reporting and Expert Testimony in Mobile and Network CasesThe test used by US federal courts (and many state courts) to assess expert testimony reliability. The judge acts as gatekeeper and evaluates: whether the meth...
- Foundations of Forensic Assessment and Test ValidityUS federal gate-keeping framework for scientific testimony (Daubert 1993, Kumho Tire 1999): requires testability, peer review, known error rate, and general ac...
- Introduction and Scope of Forensic AnthropologyThe admissibility standard for scientific expert testimony in US federal courts (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993), which requires the judge to ass...
- Major Bombing Casework: Oklahoma, Mumbai, 7/7, Boston, ManchesterThe US federal test (established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) for the admissibility of expert scientific testimony under Federal Rule of Ev...
- Multimedia Evidence: Admissibility and Expert TestimonyThe reliability gatekeeping standard established by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) and extended to technical experts by Kumho Tire v. Carmichael...
- Serology Evidence in Court: Interpretation and TestimonyThe US federal standard (from Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring trial judges to assess scientific reliability of expert testimony based on...
- Spectrographic Voiceprint History and Its Modern RejectionThe US Supreme Court's 1993 standard for admissibility of expert scientific testimony, requiring federal courts to act as gatekeepers by evaluating whether the...
- Standards, Accreditation and Admissibility in Fingerprint EvidenceThe US federal admissibility test for expert scientific evidence (Daubert v. Merrell Dow, 1993) requiring the trial judge to assess testability, peer review, k...
- Standards, Accreditation and Admissibility in Fire and ExplosivesThe reliability test for expert scientific evidence in US federal courts and most state courts, derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). Req...
- Standards, Accreditation and Admissibility in QDEThe US federal courts' admissibility test for expert scientific testimony, derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow (1993): reliability assessed via testing, peer r...
- Standards and Validation Frameworks in Media ForensicsThe US federal evidentiary gatekeeping test (from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) that judges apply to determine whether expert scientific testim...
- The Forensic Audit Report: Structure and StandardsThe US federal standard (from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) under which a trial judge acts as gatekeeper to determine whether expert methodolog...
- The Forensic Entomologist as Expert WitnessA US federal evidentiary test for scientific expert testimony, from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), requiring that the methodology be testable,...
- The Forensic Odontologist as Expert WitnessThe US federal admissibility test (Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring the trial judge to assess reliability: testability, peer review, know...
- The Frye Standard: General AcceptanceThe US federal admissibility standard established by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993), which replaced Frye in federal courts. The judge evaluates...
- The Medico-Legal Expert in CourtThe admissibility framework for expert scientific evidence in US federal courts, from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993). Requires the trial judge t...
- The Modern Critique of Biological Race in Forensic AnthropologyThe US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods wit...
- The Palo Verde Seed CaseThe four-factor test for scientific evidence adopted by the US Supreme Court in 1993. It replaced Frye in federal courts and many state courts, requiring that...
- Tool Validation and Scientific ReliabilityThe admissibility test for expert scientific testimony in US federal courts, derived from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) and codified in Federal...
- What Is Forensic Law and Why It MattersThe test for admissibility of expert scientific testimony in US federal courts, established by the Supreme Court in Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993...
- Who Is an Expert Witness in LawThe expert admissibility test adopted by the US Supreme Court in Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) and codified in Federal Rule of Evidence 702. It...