Commencement | Prosecution

It's one thing to prosecute a case that has come to a court of competent jurisdiction.

It's quite another thing to commence a court case by filing the primary pleadings.

The latent or dormant subject matter jurisdiction of a court is triggered by the presentment of initial pleadings, provided that the subject matter described in those pleadings aligns with the subject matter authorized by statute.

Without any primary pleadings filed, there can be no commencement of a court case.

In a civil matter, the primary pleadings are typically called a "petition" or a "complaint". The one who files such pleadings with the court to commence a case is the actual plaintiff.

In a criminal matter, the primary pleadings are typically called an "indictment" or an "information". Not just anyone can be the plaintiff; we the people have elected officials and delegated that special authority to only those few.

For example, in Texas, a criminal court case commences by either an indictment (from a grand jury) or an information (from a district attorney or county attorney, based on a sworn complaint) with the supporting sworn complaint presented together to a court whose statutorily-conferred subject-matter jurisdiction matches the subject matter found in these primary pleadings. As of July 2025, the constitution and the legislation do not permit the commencement of a criminal court case without an authorized individual filing the requisite paperwork with a court.

Once a court case has been properly brought, according to the law, then it can be prosecuted.

In a civil matter, the plaintiff would prosecute it.

In a criminal matter, the state/people would be considered the plaintiff, so only someone who is authorized by law could prosecute it.

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