No type of legal proceedings is complete without the involvement of experts for the production of expert research or specialists for consultation. In this regard, the question of determining the competence of these subjects by persons conducting the process who do not have special knowledge in the field in which the knowledgeable person specializes is very acute. The author determines the competence of the forensic expert and enumerates other requirements to the expert as a participant in the proceedings. The formation of competence is primarily influenced by the level of training, education of an expert or specialist. The main attention focuses on the disclosure of the main ways of initial training and retraining of forensic experts at the present stage: the traditional way of experts training; specialization in the specialty "Forensic examination"; master's degree in programs of expert specialties. The existing types of training and retraining of forensic experts in Russia and some foreign countries, including the member States of the Eurasian economic Union (EEU), are analyzed. The traditional way of training of forensic experts and training under the program of specialization are revealed proceeding from historical conditionality and necessity of training of specialists for implementation of forensic activity. The positive and negative features of the training areas are highlighted, taking into account their impact on the formation of the competence of the forensic expert. The author emphasizes the need to develop existing forms of initial training of forensic experts, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The study concludes that it is necessary to apply the subjective criterion in order to determine the effective form of training of forensic experts.