All You Need to Know About Complaint

Before proceeding to analyze in depth the meaning of the term denunciation that concerns us now, we have to establish that it has its etymological origin in Latin. This is demonstrated by the fact that it is made up of three clearly differentiated Latin parts that attest to it: the prefix – , which can be translated as “deprivation”; the verb nunciare, which is synonymous with “make known”; and the suffix -ia, which is equivalent to “quality”.

Complaint is the action and effect of denouncing (notify, report, declare the irregularity or illegality of something, report). The complaint can be made before the corresponding authorities (which implies the implementation of a judicial mechanism) or publicly (only with testimonial value).

For example: “A new complaint complicates the mayor accused of corruption”, “A mother filed a complaint against her son, accusing him of mistreatment and violence”, “The journalist promised to go to court to formalize his complaint for threats”.

The complaint, therefore, can also be the declaration and the document in which the authority is informed of the commission of a misdemeanor or a crime. It could be said that the complaint informs the authority about an offense and forces it to mobilize, first to verify that the crime exists and then to determine responsibilities and punishments.

The police are usually the first body to receive a complaint. If a person walks down the street and sees a thief assaulting a woman, he usually goes to the police for help and to report the criminal. Something similar happens when an individual suffers a robbery: he must go to the police station to make a report. The police will then begin to investigate and request the action of Justice.

It is important to know that there are many types of complaints, however, among the most significant are the following:

• Anonymous. As its name indicates, it is one that is carried out by a person without disclosing their identity.
• Criminal. It is the one that comes to record that you have been a witness or victim of a specific crime. It can be undertaken either in writing or orally, before the police.

For theft, for sale, for fraud, for violence, for abuses or for threats are other types of complaints that exist as well as those for ecological crime.

However, the police authorities consider that the complaints can be divided into two large groups:

• The administrative ones, which are those in which basically what is being done is to record a fact or an action that has taken place within the administrative sphere and that goes against the law.
• Penalties. Based on existing legislation, they are the ones who come to communicate what would be the commission of a crime or a criminal misdemeanor.

It is known as a false complaint to the incorrect imputation of a crime before an authority. When the facts denounced do not coincide with reality, the false complaint is incurred and a crime is committed: “Ramírez assured that he will take Gómez to court for false denunciation”.