Charge To The Jury

The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.

The opinion expressed by the court to the jury, on the law arising out of a case before them.

It should contain a clear and explicit exposition of the law, when the points of the law in dispute arise out of the facts proved on the trial of the cause but the court ought at no time to undertake to decide the facts, for these are to be decided by the jury.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.