Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

Law

body of procedural rules governing criminal proceedings in federal courts. Two central aims of the rules are to ensure that due process of the law is served and that efficient use is made of judicial resources. The rules cover such elements as pretrial discovery, plea bargaining, introducing evidence, and making objections. Although, as in the case of rules of civil procedure, some states have patterned their rules of criminal procedure after the federal rules, there is greater diversity in criminal procedure than in civil procedure across U.S. jurisdictions.