What is the purpose of an arraignment?

At an arraignment, the court officially illuminates a litigant regarding charges contained in a prosecution or data, gives the respondent a duplicate of the charging instrument, and takes the litigant's response to those charges as a request.

An arraignment is usually the first part of the criminal procedure that occurs in a courtroom before a judge or magistrate. The purpose of an arraignment is to provide the accused with a reading of the crime with which he or she has been charged.