Jury instructions
legal rules from a judge to jurors
Jury instructions, also known as charges or directions, are a set of legal guidelines given by a judge to a jury in a court of law. They are an important procedural step in a trial by jury, and as such are a cornerstone of criminal process in many common law countries.
The purpose of instructions are to inform the jury about the legal principles and standards that they must apply in order to reach a verdict. This ensures that criminal trials are fair and lawful. They are typically delivered after closing arguments, but sometimes may be delivered mid-trial if necessary. Jury instructions are distinct from a directed verdict, when the judge orders the jury to deliver a particular verdict.
In some cases, the instructions given by a judge to the jury are incorrect, which may (depending on the issue) result in a mistrial.
Content of jury instructions
Jury instructions often cover the following issues:
Introduction to the trial process: An overview of the trial process, the roles of the judge, jury, attorneys, and witnesses, and the importance of the jury's role in the legal system.
Explanation of the burden of proof: a legal concept crucial to the trial system. This is especially important where different legal issues have a different standard of proof to be applied (whether due to statute, or because of the civil versus criminal standard).
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6502501. The Library of Congress control number is sh85066763. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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