Sidebar Conference

A sidebar conference is a brief, off-the-record (or separately recorded) discussion held between the judge and counsel during a trial, conducted out of the hearing of the jury and often the public gallery. The term derives from counsel literally approaching the side of the judge's bench. Sidebars are used to resolve issues that, if aired openly, could prejudice the jury or compromise the fairness of proceedings — typically disputes over the admissibility of evidence, objections requiring legal argument, scheduling matters, or sensitive questions about a witness's background.

In U.S. federal practice, sidebars are governed by the trial judge's general authority to manage proceedings under the Federal Rules of Evidence (notably Rule 103, which requires that offers of proof and rulings on evidence be made in a manner that prevents inadmissible material from reaching the jury) and Rule 104 (preliminary questions decided by the court). Most jurisdictions require sidebars to be transcribed by the court reporter so they can be reviewed on appeal, even though the jury does not hear them.

Sidebars are distinct from in-camera proceedings (held in chambers, usually without the public) and bench trials (where there is no jury at all). Judges generally discourage excessive sidebars because they interrupt the flow of trial and can themselves signal to jurors that something contested is occurring; many judges instead require counsel to raise foreseeable evidentiary disputes through pretrial motions in limine.

Outside the courtroom, the phrase "sidebar" has been borrowed loosely in diplomatic and Model UN settings to describe quiet, informal consultations on the margins of a formal session — for example, two delegations stepping aside during a Security Council meeting to negotiate language. In that diplomatic usage it is closer in meaning to a bilateral on the margins than to its strict legal sense, and it carries no procedural status under the rules of procedure of bodies such as the UN General Assembly.