3.3 Pretrial Conference
3.3 审前会议
In federal courts and in some state courts, there is a pretrial conference before the trial begins.
在联邦法院和一些州法院,审理开始前都有一个审前会议。
At the conference, which usually takes place from two to four months before the trial begins,
审前会议一般在正式审理开始前两到四个月举行。
the parties shall each submit written documents summarizing their contentions of fact and law and listing the names of the persons,
在会上,当事人各方要向法院提交书面文件,归纳其事实和法律方面的争论点,列出将在法庭作证的证人的姓名,
whom they will use at the trial as witness as well as a list of all documentary or other evidence which they plan to use at the trial.
以及计划在法庭上使用的文件证据或其他证据的清单。
Pretrial conference, used extensively in the federal district courts, frequently results in the settlement of the case without trial.
审前会议在联邦地区法院被广泛使用。许多案件常常无需正式开庭审理,便能在审前会议上解决。
If it does not, the court fixes a specific date for the case trial, following the pretrial conference.
如果案件未能在审前会议上解决,法院会确定另一确切日期开庭审理该案。
The objective of the pretrial conference is to shorten the actual trial time without infringing upon the rights of either party.
审前会议的目的在于缩短实际审理的时间而又不侵犯双方当事人的权利。