Arraignment is the formal moment an accused is told what they are charged with and asked to plead. The rule puts a firm outer limit on how long a court can sit on a case before that has to happen, and a tighter one still applies where the accused is already in detention.

  1. Arraignment must happen within thirty days of the court taking jurisdiction over the accused

    Unless a shorter period applies under a special law or a Supreme Court circular, arraignment must be held within thirty (30) days from the date the court acquires jurisdiction over the person of the accused. Time spent on a motion to quash, a motion for a bill of particulars, or another cause justifying suspension of the arraignment is excluded from that thirty-day count.

    The Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure (effective December 1, 2000, as amended), Rules 110-127, RULE 116. Read the source →

  2. If the accused is detained, the clock moves faster: three days to raffle, ten to arraign, ten more to pre-trial

    Where the accused is under preventive detention, the case must be raffled and its records transmitted to the assigned judge within three (3) days of the complaint or information being filed. The accused must then be arraigned within ten (10) days of that raffle, and the pre-trial conference must be held within ten (10) days after arraignment.

    The Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure (effective December 1, 2000, as amended), Rules 110-127, RULE 116. Read the source →

  3. The accused must be present in person and personally enter the plea

    Arraignment takes place in open court, with the accused furnished a copy of the complaint or information and having it read in a language or dialect they understand before being asked to plead. The accused must be personally present at arraignment and must personally enter the plea — it cannot be entered by counsel on the accused's behalf.

    The Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure (effective December 1, 2000, as amended), Rules 110-127, RULE 116. Read the source →

The detained-accused timeline is meaningfully tighter than the general thirty-day rule, which is part of why custodial status is worth confirming early in a case — it changes how quickly the next several steps are legally required to happen.

Note. This page describes a procedure by reference to the issuances that create it. It is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Deadlines, offices and requirements can shift with new circulars; a lawyer reviewing your specific facts is the safer path than acting on this alone.