The parties shall tender jury instructions pursuant to C.R.C.P. 16(g). All instructions shall be submitted to the parties, who shall make all objections thereto before they are given to the jury. Only the grounds so specified shall be considered on motion for a new trial or on appeal or certiorari. Before argument, the court shall read its instructions to the jury but shall not comment upon the evidence. Such instructions shall be taken by the jury when it retires. All instructions offered by the parties, or given by the court, shall be filed with the clerk and, with the endorsement thereon indicating the action of the court, shall be taken as part of the record of the cause.
Rule 51.Instructions to Jury
Current through June 1, 2026 · Last verified July 10, 2026
In one sentenceStates the Colorado procedure for tendering, objecting to, and giving jury instructions in a civil trial, and requires a party to object before the instructions go to the jury to preserve any claim of error for a new-trial motion or appeal.
Full Text of Rule 51
Amendment History
Amended effective January 1, 1995; September 10, 2009.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 51 governs how a judge and the parties handle jury instructions in a civil trial. Once the parties tender their proposed instructions under Rule 16, the court circulates every instruction to both sides so they can raise objections before any instruction reaches the jury. The judge then reads the instructions to the jury before closing arguments and cannot comment on the evidence while doing so.
The rule's core function is to preserve error for later review. A party who fails to object to an instruction before it is given to the jury generally loses the right to challenge that instruction in a motion for a new trial, on appeal, or on certiorari. Because only the grounds stated at that point count later, counsel must flag every concern with an instruction on the record before it reaches the jury. The instructions themselves, along with the court's notations on them, are filed with the clerk and become part of the case record. The jury also takes the written instructions with it when it retires to deliberate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I do not object to a jury instruction before it is given?
You generally lose the right to challenge that instruction later. Rule 51 limits review on a new-trial motion, appeal, or certiorari to the grounds specified in an objection made before the instruction reached the jury.
Does the judge read the instructions aloud to the jury?
Yes. Rule 51 requires the court to read its instructions to the jury before closing argument, and the court cannot comment on the evidence while doing so.
Can the jury take the written instructions into deliberations?
Yes. Rule 51 states that the jury takes the instructions with it when it retires to deliberate.
Do rejected instructions still become part of the case record?
Yes. Every instruction offered by a party or given by the court is filed with the clerk, along with a notation of what the court did with it, and becomes part of the record of the case.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (Colo. R. Civ. P. 51). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Colorado (C.R.S. § 13-2-108; Colo. Const. art. VI). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 10, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: jury instructions rule coloradoobjecting to jury instructions crcpCRCP 51tendering jury instructionscontemporaneous objection rule coloradoreading instructions to the jury before closing argument