We explain what a complaint is in Law, who intervenes and how it is carried out. Also, its meaning in colloquial language.
What is a complaint?
In legal language, the complaint (from the Latin wanted, “Complain”) is understood as the process through which a complainant takes criminal action and becomes part of the investigation. The complainant is an individual who alerts the authorities about a crime committed.
That is, while a complaint only alerts the authorities of a crime, a complaint does the same and also initiates the necessary criminal process to proceed with the necessary investigation.
Those who file a complaint with the criminal authorities are known as plaintiffs, and they are considered to be exercising their legal rights. In this, the complaint and the complaint are also distinguished: the first is a right, the second is usually seen as a duty. Any citizen can file a complaint against those who have committed a crime against him, or a prosecutor in charge of the case can also do so.
The steps to complain against someone usually vary according to criminal legal regulations, but it is usually essential to present certain formal requirements, since It is a much more severe procedure than a simple complaint.
It is also called a complaint to certain types of claims by the heirs of a will, whose purpose is to invalidate it as unofficial. Plus, In colloquial language, it is common to hear the term used as a synonym for quarrel, discord and even as an expression of physical pain or painful feeling, as established by the Dictionary of the Spanish Language.