Minnesota Statutes
Minn. R. Civ. P. 51.04 (2026)
Assigning Error; Plain Error
✓ current as of May 2026
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(a)Assigned Error.
A party may assign as error:
(1) an error in an instruction actually given if that party made a proper objection under Rule 51.03, or
(2) a failure to give an instruction if that party made a proper request under Rule 51.01, and - unless the court made a definitive ruling on the record rejecting the request - also made a proper objection under Rule 51.03.
(b)Plain Error.
A court may consider a plain error in the instructions affecting substantial rights that has not been preserved as required by Rule 51.04(a)(1) or (2).
(Added effective January 1, 2006.)
Advisory Committee Comment - 2006 Amendment
Rule 51 is entirely new with this amendment. The new rule is modeled on its federal counterpart, Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, as it was amended in 2003. The changes are intended primarily to provide detailed procedural guidance where the existing rule is either silent or vague. See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, Advis. Comm. Notes - 2003 Amend., reprinted in FED. CIV. JUD. PROC. & RULES 227 (West 2005 ed.).
Rule 51.02(c) continues to recognize that the court may give instructions to the jury at any time after trial begins, including preliminary instructions before opening statements or the taking of evidence, during the trial, and at the end of trial either before or after the arguments of counsel.