Bench Trial Definition

A bench trial sometimes referred to as a court trial is held before only a judge with no jury involved at all.

Bench trial definition. A jury trial is a trial before a jury of 6 or 12 people who after hearing the evidence and legal arguments decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the charges against him. Bench trial is a trial conducted before a judge without a jury. What does bench trial mean. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial.

Please help us improve our site. Bench trial law and legal definition. The judge is responsible for hearing the case ruling on motions and eventually rendering a verdict. Conversely in a bench trial the ultimate decision maker is the judge.

Information and translations of bench trial in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Unlike jury trials where a juror may learn little to nothing about a case before trial cases tried from the bench present unique opportunities to shape the judge s opinion of the case prior to trial. A bench trial is an unusual form of a trial where there is not a jury present. A bench trial is a trial by judge as opposed to a trial by jury.

Many legal systems roman islamic use bench trials for most or all cases or for certain types of cases while a jury renders a verdict a judge in a bench trial does the same by making a finding. Whereas in a jury trial questions of facts are determined by the jury and only questions of law is decided by the judge. In a criminal proceeding in state court a defendant may face a jury trial or a bench trial. In such trials the judge decides both questions of facts and questions of law.

The judge still rules on issues of evidence and testimony allowed in trial and procedural issues but he or she also views the evidence and hears testimony. Meaning of bench trial. A trial conducted before a judge presiding without a jury.