Rule 51.Instructions to the Jury; Objections; Preserving a Claim of Error

Last amended December 1, 2007 · Last verified June 30, 2026

In one sentenceRule 51 governs jury instructions: parties may submit proposed instructions, the court must tell them how it will rule before closing arguments, and a party must object on the record, stating the matter and grounds, to preserve a claim of instructional error.

Full Text of Rule 51

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d)

(a) Requests.

(1) Before or at the Close of the Evidence. At the close of the evidence or at any earlier reasonable time that the court orders, a party may file and furnish to every other party written requests for the jury instructions it wants the court to give.

(2) After the Close of the Evidence. After the close of the evidence, a party may:

(A) file requests for instructions on issues that could not reasonably have been anticipated by an earlier time that the court set for requests; and

(B) with the court's permission, file untimely requests for instructions on any issue.

(b) Instructions. The court:

(1) must inform the parties of its proposed instructions and proposed action on the requests before instructing the jury and before final jury arguments;

(2) must give the parties an opportunity to object on the record and out of the jury's hearing before the instructions and arguments are delivered; and

(3) may instruct the jury at any time before the jury is discharged.

(1) How to Make. A party who objects to an instruction or the failure to give an instruction must do so on the record, stating distinctly the matter objected to and the grounds for the objection.

(2) When to Make. An objection is timely if:

(A) a party objects at the opportunity provided under Rule 51(b)(2); or

(B) a party was not informed of an instruction or action on a request before that opportunity to object, and the party objects promptly after learning that the instruction or request will be, or has been, given or refused.

(d) Assigning Error; Plain Error.

(1) Assigning Error. A party may assign as error:

(A) an error in an instruction actually given, if that party properly objected; or

(B) a failure to give an instruction, if that party properly requested it and—unless the court rejected the request in a definitive ruling on the record—also properly objected.

(2) Plain Error. A court may consider a plain error in the instructions that has not been preserved as required by Rule 51(d)

(1) if the error affects substantial rights.

End

Amendment History

(Amended March 2, 1987, effective August 1, 1987; March 27, 2003, effective December 1, 2003; April 30, 2007, effective December 1, 2007.)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 51 structures how a judge instructs the jury and how parties protect their objections. At the close of evidence (or earlier, as the court directs), a party may file proposed jury instructions. The court must inform the parties of the instructions it intends to give and the requests it will refuse, and must do so before final arguments so counsel can argue in light of the charge.

To preserve a complaint about an instruction for appeal, a party must object on the record, stating distinctly the matter objected to and the grounds. The objection is timely if made at the opportunity the court gives the parties to object — on the record and out of the jury's hearing, before the instructions and arguments are delivered — or, if the party wasn't informed of an instruction before that opportunity, promptly after learning the instruction will be or was given or refused. A party that fails to object generally cannot raise the error later — except that a court may, in its discretion, correct a plain error in the instructions that affects substantial rights.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you preserve an objection to a jury instruction?

Object on the record and out of the jury's hearing at the opportunity the court gives the parties to object, before the instructions and arguments are delivered, stating distinctly the instruction objected to and the grounds for the objection (Rule 51(b)(2), (c)).

Do you have to object before the jury retires to deliberate?

No — that was the pre-2003 standard. Under the current rule, the objection must be made at the court's charge conference, before the instructions and arguments are delivered, not at some later point before deliberations begin.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 51), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government. Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: FRCP 51Fed. R. Civ. P. 51jury instructionsobjecting to jury instructionspreserving instructional error