General-acceptance test
Definition
The Frye rule that a scientific principle must be sufficiently established to have gained acceptance in the particular field to which it belongs before courts can admit testimony based on it. The test focuses on community consensus, not the judge's independent assessment of validity.
Related terms
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023
- India's replacement for the Indian Evidence Act 1872, in force from 1 July 2024. Section 39 carries forward the expert-witness opinion provisions,...
- Daubert standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Judicial gatekeeping
- The role of the trial judge in screening scientific evidence before it reaches the jury. Under Frye the judge defers to expert...
- Novel science problem
- The practical difficulty that arises when a technique is new and no scientific consensus yet exists. Under Frye, a sound technique is...
- Relevant scientific community
- The group of scientists whose expertise covers the technique under review. Identifying this community is the first step of the Frye inquiry....
Explained in
- The Frye Standard: General AcceptanceThe Frye rule that a scientific principle must be sufficiently established to have gained acceptance in the particular field to which it belongs before courts...