Determination of what, if any, factual issues are to be decided by trial is called what?

• A. Forfeiture
• B. Pre-Trial Motions
• C. Summons
• D. Pre-Trial Proceedings

Answer: (D)

Before a trial, the court and the parties plan out which facts will actually be decided at trial. This planning happens in the pre-trial stage, through pre-trial proceedings that shape the scope of the trial, identify disputed issues of fact, and determine what must be proven at trial versus what can be resolved beforehand. Forfeiture concerns the loss of property as a consequence of a legal process, not how trial issues are chosen. Pre-trial motions are specific requests made before trial, but they’re part of the broader pre-trial process rather than the entire process of deciding which factual issues go to trial. A summons simply starts the case and not the determination of trial issues. So the determination of what factual issues are to be decided by trial is called pre-trial proceedings.