Editing Complaint (section)

{{short description|Legal document, the filing of which initiates a lawsuit}}
{{about|the legal usage|complaints in other contexts|Complaint (disambiguation)}}

{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=[[the United States]]|date=May 2017|talk=Talk:Complaint#Globalize}}

{{Civil procedure (United States)}}

In legal terminology, a '''complaint''' is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: [[cause of action]]) that the [[Filing (legal)|filing]] party or parties (the [[plaintiff]](s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party or parties against whom the claim is brought (the [[defendant]](s)) that entitles the plaintiff(s) to a [[Legal remedy|remedy]] (either [[money damages]] or [[injunctive relief]]). For example, the [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]] (FRCP) that govern civil litigation in United States courts provide that a civil action is commenced with the filing or service of a pleading called a complaint. Civil court rules in states that have incorporated the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure use the same term for the same pleading. 

In Civil Law, a "complaint" is the first formal action taken to officially begin a lawsuit. This written document contains the allegations against the defense, the specific laws violated, the facts that led to the dispute, and any demands made by the plaintiff to restore justice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Summary of civil case proceedings |url=https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/_assets/_documents/_forms/_outreach/teachers/Civil%20Case%20Flow.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212213428/http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/_assets/_documents/_forms/_outreach/teachers/Civil%20Case%20Flow.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-12 |url-status=live |website=United States District Court, Northern district of Illinois |access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, specific types of criminal cases may also be commenced by the filing of a complaint, also sometimes called a '''criminal complaint''' or '''felony complaint'''. Most criminal cases are prosecuted in the name of the governmental authority that promulgates criminal statutes and enforces the [[Police power (United States constitutional law)|police power]] of the state with the goal of seeking criminal [[sanctions (law)|sanctions]], such as the State (also sometimes called the People) or Crown (in [[Commonwealth realm]]s). In the United States, the complaint is often associated with misdemeanor [[criminal charge]]s presented by the prosecutor without the grand jury process. In most U.S. jurisdictions, the charging instrument presented to and authorized by a [[grand jury]] is referred to as an [[indictment]].