Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1540 · Chapter 4. Jury Trials
Examination of prospective jurors in civil cases
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Application
This rule applies to all civil jury trials.
(b) Examination of jurors by the trial judge
In examining prospective jurors in civil cases, the judge should consider the policies and recommendations in standard 3.25 of the Standards of Judicial Administration.
(c) Additional questions and examination by counsel
On completion of the initial examination, the trial judge must permit counsel for each party that so requests to submit additional questions that the judge will put to the jurors.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
(Subd (a) amended and lettered effective January 1, 2007; adopted as part of untitled subd effective January 1, 1949.)
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2013; adopted as part of untitled subd effective January 1, 1949; previously amended and lettered as subd (b) effective January 1, 2007.)
(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2013; adopted as part of untitled subd effective January 1, 1949; previously amended and lettered as subd (c) effective January 1, 2007.)
Rule 3.1540 amended effective January 1, 2013; adopted as rule 228 effective January 1, 1949; previously amended effective January 1, 1972, January 1, 1974, January 1, 1975, January 1, 1988, January 1, 1990, June 6, 1990, and July 1, 1993; previously amended and renumbered as rule 3.1540 effective January 1, 2007.
Division 15, Trial-Chapter 4.5, Expedited Jury Trials, adopted effective January 1, 2011.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/three/rule3_1540
- Text hash
- sha256 a7b8a9811f90020d6497459e71e69b55327a7affb3bd8b0f1ed2ff456be2ef66
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.