Allegation

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An allegation is a statement of a fact by a party in a pleading, which the party claims it will prove. Allegations remain assertions without proof, only claims until they are proved.

Generally, in a civil complaint, a plaintiff alleges facts sufficient to establish all the elements of the crime and thus create a cause of action. The plaintiff must then carry the burden of proof and burden of persuasion in order to succeed in its 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, personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction.

[edit] Disjunctive allegations

Disjunctive allegations are allegations in a pleading joined together by "or"s. In a complaint, disjunctive allegations are usually per se 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.

[edit] See also