In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

in a

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adju ...

, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.
See definition at law.com

Types of allegations

Marital allegations

There are also marital allegations: marriage bonds and allegations exist for couples who applied to marriage licence, marry by licence. They do not exist for couples who married by banns. The marriage allegation was the document in which the couple alleged (or most frequently just the groom alleged on behalf of both of them) that there were no impediments to the marriage.

Civil complaints

Generally, in a civil complaint, a

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

alleges facts sufficient to establish all the elements of the claim and thus states a

cause of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a ...

. The plaintiff must then carry the burden of proof and the burden of persuasion in order to succeed in the lawsuit. A defendant can allege affirmative defenses in its answer to the complaint. Other allegations are required in a pleading to establish the correct

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

personal jurisdiction Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...

and

subject matter jurisdiction Subject-matter jurisdiction (also called jurisdiction ''ratione materiae')'' is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority ...

Disjunctive allegations

Disjunctive allegations are allegations in a pleading joined by an "or". In a complaint, disjunctive allegations are usually ''

per se Per se may refer to: * '' per se'', a Latin phrase meaning "by itself" or "in itself". * Illegal ''per se'', the legal usage in criminal and antitrust law * Negligence ''per se'', legal use in tort law * Per Se (restaurant), a New York City restaur ...

'' defective because such a pleading does not put the party on notice of which allegations they must defend. 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.

Terminology

"Adduction" is another term relating to allegations. Evidence is said to be adduced, in the process of putting forward or presenting evidence or arguments for consideration by the court.

References