An accusation is a
statement by one person asserting that another person or entity has done something improper. The person who makes the accusation is an accuser, while the subject against whom it is made is the accused. Whether a statement is interpreted as an accusation may rely on the
social environment
The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...
in which it is made:
[Peter Tiersma, Lawrence Solan, ''The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law'' (2012), p. 291.]
An accusation can be made in private or in public, to the accused person alone, or to other people with or without the knowledge of the accused person. An accuser can make an accusation with or without evidence; the accusation can be entirely
speculative, and can even be a
false accusation, made out of
malice, for the purpose of harming the
reputation
The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance.
...
of the accused.
Perceptions and reactions
The perceived strength of an accusation is affected by the trustworthiness of the accuser. For example, in
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
:
Responses to accusations vary, and may include
confession to the assertion, but also often manifest as "a state of denial, minimalization, or externalization".
[''Sovereignty, Colonialism and the Indigenous Nations: A Reader'' (2005), p. 543.]
Accusations and public relations
In journalism, the reporting of an accusation is commonly balanced with an effort to obtain a response to the accusation by the accused person or entity:
There is therefore usually an opportunity for the subject of an accusation to respond to it. An accusation made against a
corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
is often treated as a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
event, in which a business is accused of wrongdoing in order to influence its behavior.
Criminal accusations
A criminal accusation is a formal accusation made by the state against an individual or enterprise. In addition to the normal elements of an accusation, a criminal accusation specifies that the wrongdoing on the part of the accused constitutes a violation of the law. A criminal accusation may be informally made through a declaration made to the public at large (generally through news media) or by the filing of a formal accusation in a court of law by a person legally entitled to do so, generally on behalf of the state by a
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
.
See also
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Allegation
In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.
Types of allegations Marital allegations
There are also marital allegations: m ...
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False accusation
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Indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...
*
Information (formal criminal charge)
References
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Broad-concept articles
Communication design
Criminal law
Personal life
Public relations
Social concepts