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Argument from Expert Opinion as Legal Evidence: Critical Questions and Admissibility Criteria of Expert Testimony in the American Legal System *
Author(s) -
GODDEN DAVID M.,
WALTON DOUGLAS
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
ratio juris
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.344
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1467-9337
pISSN - 0952-1917
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2006.00331.x
Subject(s) - argumentation theory , argument (complex analysis) , expert opinion , expert witness , context (archaeology) , dialectic , set (abstract data type) , epistemology , law , witness , judicial opinion , scientific evidence , psychology , political science , sociology , computer science , philosophy , history , medicine , archaeology , programming language , intensive care medicine
. While courts depend on expert opinions in reaching sound judgments, the role of the expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a litany of problems. Perhaps most prevalent is the question of under what circumstances should testimony be admitted as expert opinion. We review the changing policies adopted by American courts in an attempt to ensure the reliability and usefulness of the scientific and technical information admitted as evidence. We argue that these admissibility criteria are best seen in a dialectical context as a set of critical questions of the kind commonly used in models of argumentation.