Expert's duty to the court
Definition
In most adversarial jurisdictions, an expert witness's primary duty is to the court, not to the party that retained them. This means disclosing limitations, acknowledging uncertainty, and not overstating conclusions to assist the calling party.
Related terms
- Authentication (FRE 901)
- The US requirement that a party offering evidence produce sufficient proof to support a finding that the item is what they claim....
- CSI effect
- The tendency of jurors, shaped by television forensic dramas, to have unrealistic expectations of forensic evidence quality and to either over-weight clear...
- Daubert standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Frye standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- PACE Section 78
- Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 78: UK courts may exclude prosecution evidence whose admission would adversely affect the fairness of...
Explained in
- Multimedia Evidence: Admissibility and Expert TestimonyIn most adversarial jurisdictions, an expert witness's primary duty is to the court, not to the party that retained them. This means disclosing limitations, ac...