legal-terms
What are the differences between petitions, complaints, and indictments?
<p>These seem to be ways of bringing actions to a court. How do they differ and compare?</p>

<p>These are different terms for initiating documents. What one court or jurisdiction calls a petition, another might call an application. &quot;Complaint&quot; may not have a technical meaning in some contexts or jurisdictions, but often it is used to refer to the initiating document at a specialist tribunal. There are other names for initiating documents: notice of civil claim, notice of action, etc.</p>
<p>There is no way to know which terms have a technical meaning and what those meanings are without looking to the rules and practice in a particular jurisdiction.</p>
<p>&quot;Indictment&quot; is an initiating document in a criminal prosecution. But there are also &quot;informations&quot; (generally implying lesser charges).</p>
