Legal Definitions - germane

Germane describes something that is directly and closely connected to the topic or issue being discussed or considered. It means it is relevant, appropriate, and not extraneous to the matter at hand.

• Imagine a city council meeting where the agenda item is a proposal to build a new public park. During the public comment section, a resident raises concerns about the city's recent increase in property taxes. The mayor might interject, stating that while property taxes are an important issue, the discussion must remain germane to the park proposal.

  This illustrates "germane" because the property tax discussion, while valid in another context, is not directly relevant or pertinent to the specific agenda item of building a new park.

• Consider a job interview for a software developer position. The interviewer asks about the candidate's experience with specific programming languages and project management methodologies. If the candidate then starts talking at length about their passion for competitive birdwatching, the interviewer might find that information not entirely germane to assessing their qualifications for the software role.

  Here, the birdwatching hobby, while potentially interesting, does not directly relate to the skills and experience required for a software developer, making it not germane to the interview's purpose.

• In a legal deposition, a lawyer is questioning a witness about the details of a car accident. The lawyer asks about the weather conditions, the speed of the vehicles, and the visibility at the time of the collision. If the witness begins to elaborate on their personal feelings about the other driver's character, the opposing lawyer might object, arguing that such testimony is not germane to determining the facts of the accident itself.

  This example shows that personal opinions about character are not directly relevant to establishing the factual circumstances of a car accident, and thus are not germane to the deposition's objective.