Novel Science Problem
Definition
The practical difficulty that arises when a technique is new and no scientific consensus yet exists. Under Frye, a sound technique is inadmissible until a consensus forms. Under Daubert-type tests, novel but methodologically rigorous science can be admitted before broad acceptance has developed.
- Under Frye
- Technique inadmissible until general acceptance forms
- Under Daubert-type tests
- Rigorous but not-yet-consensus science can be admitted
- Core tension
- Timing gap between a technique's development and its acceptance
- Practical effect
- Frye jurisdictions lag behind emerging forensic methods
Common questions
Why does this create a practical disadvantage in Frye jurisdictions?+
A genuinely sound and well-validated new technique can still be excluded for years simply because the relevant scientific community has not yet reached the threshold of general acceptance, even where the underlying method is reliable.
How does a Daubert-type test handle the same new technique differently?+
It asks a court to directly evaluate factors like testability, known error rate, peer review, and methodology, so a novel technique can be admitted on its own scientific merits without waiting for community-wide consensus to develop.
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...
- General-Acceptance Test
- The Frye rule that a scientific principle must be sufficiently established to have gained acceptance in the particular field to which it...
- Judicial Gatekeeping
- The role of the trial judge in screening scientific evidence before it reaches the jury. Under Frye the judge defers to expert...
- 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....