An allegation is a statement of a fact by a party in a pleading, which the party claims it will prove. Allegations remain assertions without proof, only claims until they are proved. Look up Fact in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Fact (disambiguation). ... A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. ... In the law, a pleading is one of the papers filed with a court in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. ...

Generally, in a civil complaint, a plaintiff alleges facts sufficient to establish all the elements of the crime and thus create a cause of action. The plaintiff must then carry the burden of proof and burden of persuasion in order to succeed in its lawsuit. In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, for example. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... In the law, a cause of action is a recognized kind of legal claim that a plaintiff pleads or alleges in a complaint to start a lawsuit. ... In the common law, burden of proof is the obligation to prove allegations which are presented in a legal action. ... The Burden of Persuasion in a debate or trial is the requirement that those arguing against the status quo must demonstrate that a problem exists. ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ...

A defendant can allege affirmative defenses in its answer to the complaint. A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... An affirmative defense is a defense used in litigation between private parties in common law jurisdictions. ... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ...

Other allegations are required in a pleading to establish the correct jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction. In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ... Personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction of (or over) the person, or jurisdiction in personam is the power of a court to require a party (usually the defendant) or a witness to come before the court. ... Subject matter jurisdiction is a legal term used in civil procedure to indicate that a case must be entered in the proper court of law based on the nature of the claim. ...

Disjunctive allegations

Disjunctive allegations are allegations in a pleading joined together by "or"s. In a complaint, disjunctive allegations are usually per se defective because such a pleading does not put the party on notice of which allegations they must defend. This page includes English translations of several Latin phrases and abbreviations such as . ... Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. ...

On the other hand, defendants often plead in the alternative by listing seemingly inconsistent defenses. For example, "I did not do the crime", "if I did, I didn't know", or "even if I did know, I've got a good excuse." Such a pleading may be considered disjunctive and may be permissible. Alternative pleading is a legal fiction permitting a party to argue multiple possibilities that may be mutually exclusive. ...