What is an 'arraignment'?

What is an 'arraignment'?

Paul Bergman (Professor, UCLA School of Law) gives expert video advice on: What is a 'bench trial'?; What is an 'arraignment'?; What is an 'appeal'? and more...

An arraignment is a term that's used in the criminal trial process. When someone is arrested, they have a right to be brought to court within 48 hours. Now that can be a little longer if there's a weekend. And that first court appearance where they're formally advised of the charges against them, where they might ask for bail or to be released on their own recognizance, that process is called an arraignment. In the criminal trial it exists because once a person is arrested, the police don't decide what charges are to be filed, the prosecutor's office makes that decision. And so it may not be until you're arraigned, that you go to court for the arraignment, that you find out what the actual charges are. And there just simply isn't an equivalent to that in the civil justice process.