Accusation

The accusation or imputation is the charge that is formulated before a competent authority against one or several specific persons, considering them responsible for a crime or misdemeanor, with the aim of that the prescribed penalty be applied. This person is called the defendant.

Regulation by country

Spain

In the criminal process, the plenary begins with the accusation that consists of a formal declaration of will of the holder of the criminal action - public prosecutor, private prosecutor or both - for which, based on the pieces of conviction attached the summary formulates a judgment of guilt against the defendant who had been inquired about the object of reproach.

The tax accusation must be specific, precise and conclusive, in terms of each and every one of the criminal acts that are the reason for the process, and in terms of the imputability and responsibility of the defendants, and must also indicate the amount of the penalties that They requested. Without it, the plenary does not exist, and its omission annuls the sentence.

Accusing and proving are inseparable aspects of the accusatory task. In the criminal proceeding, due to its content, the defendant will hear about the alleged act, that is, the fact that was taken into account in the statement or that arose from the presentation, its legal qualification and the evidence that the investigative prosecutor considered useful., for the purpose of concocting its convenient release (A. Bortwick). This jurist highlights four integrating elements of the accusation:

1. Subjective elements, personally identifiable data.
2. The objective element, referring to the enunciation of the facts, should be: clear, precise, circumstantial and specific.
3. The legal element, i.e. its legal qualification, characterization or subsumption of the specific act in a Criminal Code. In addition, all matters relating to the contest, the degree of participation and the qualifications of criminal responsibility should be disclosed to the extent that they were present.
4. Volitive element, that is, must be motivated.