Bench trial

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A bench trial in the U.S. is a trial before a judge in which the right to a jury trial has been waived by the necessary parties. In the case of a criminal trial, in most states the criminal defendant alone has the ability to waive the right to a jury. In a civil trial, one of the parties must request a jury trial (and pay a small fee), otherwise a bench trial will result.See FRCP 38.

With bench trials, the judge is the finder of law and the finder of fact. In some bench trials, both sides have already stipulated to all the facts in the case (such as civil disobedience cases designed to test the constitutionality of a law). These are usually faster than jury trials due to the fewer number of formalities required. For example, there is no jury selection phase, no need for sequestration and no need for jury instructions.

A bench trial has some distinctive characteristics, but it is basically the same as a jury trial without the jury. For example, the rules of evidence and methods of objection are the same in a bench trial as in a jury trial. Bench trials, however, are frequently more informal than jury trials. Without the time consuming showmanship of a jury trial, the parties are often able to concentrate the real questions at issue. It is also less necessary to protect the record with objections, and sometimes evidence is accepted de bene, or provisionally, subject to the possibility of being struck in the future.

See Jury trial, Criminal law, civil law