Complaint

In civil practice. In those states having a Code of Civil Procedure, the complaint is the first or initiatory pleading on the part of the plaintiff in a civil action. It corresponds to the declaration in the common-law practice.

Code N.Y.§ 141.

Thecomplaint shallcontain: (1) The titleofthe cause, specifying the name of the court in which the action is brought, the name of the county in which the trial is required to be had, and the names of the parties to the action, plaintiff and defendant. (2) A plain and concise statement of the facts constituting a cause of action, without unnecessary repetition; and each material allegation shall be distinctly numbered. (8) A demand of the relief to which the plaintiff supposes himself entitled. Ifthe recovery of money be demanded, the amount thereof must be stated.

Code N. C. 1863, § 233.

In criminal law. A charge, preferred before a magistrate having jurisdiction, that a person named (or an unknown person) has committed a specitied offense, with an offer to prove the fact, to the end that a prosecution may be instituted, It is a technical term, descriptive of proceedings before a magistrate.

11 Pick. 486.

The complaint is an allegation, made before & proper magistrate, that a person has been guilty of a designated public offense.

Code Ala, 1886, § 4255.