The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1791 as part of the United States Bill of Rights. It guarantees the rights of criminal defendants in the United States, including the following:

• The right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury consisting of jurors from the state and district in which the crime was alleged to have been committed. Under the impartial jury requirement, jurors must be unbiased, and the jury must consist of a representative cross-section of the community. The right to a jury applies only to offenses in which the penalty is imprisonment for longer than six months.

• The right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations against them.

• The right to confront and cross-examine witnesses.

• The right to call their own witnesses and, in some cases, compel witnesses to testify.

• The right to be assisted by counsel.

• The right to a public trial without unnecessary delay.

The Sixth Amendment was added to the Constitution to ensure that criminal defendants receive a fair trial and are not subject to arbitrary or unjust treatment by the government. It is considered to be one of the most important tenets of the Constitution, and its provisions have been extended by the Supreme Court to be applicable in state trials.