A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can take several forms, including: complaint information indictment citation (Police) traffic ticket The charging document is what generally starts a criminal case in court, but the procedure by which somebody is charged with a crime, and what happens when somebody has been charged, varies from country to country. Before a person is proven guilty, the charge must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.