How a profile is built

01What a controversy is

In Controversia, a controversy is an accusation, a significant public dispute, legal proceedings, a sanction or a documented polemic involving a named person or organisation, documented by at least one identifiable source.

Background milestones (election, appointment, founding, acquisition, report…) are kept as context in a « Documented background » section. They are not controversies and are never counted as such.

Being listed in the archive, as a person or an organisation, is not, in itself, evidence of wrongdoing. It indicates that a public matter exists and has been documented.

02Sources first

Every controversy links to its sources: publisher, title, link, type of source and, when known, an indication of reliability. Court decisions, official documents and established investigative journalism are preferred. Sources are displayed openly so that anyone can check them.

A claim that cannot be tied to a source does not belong in a profile.

03Allegation, investigation, formal charge, conviction

Profiles always distinguish between the following situations:

Conviction

A documented court decision found the person guilty. If an appeal is mentioned, the decision may not be final.

Formally charged

The person was formally charged — in France, placed under formal investigation (« mise en examen ») — or sent to trial. They remain presumed innocent.

Acquitted / conviction overturned

The person was acquitted or found not guilty, or a conviction was overturned.

Case dismissed / dropped

The proceedings ended without prosecution: case dismissed (« non-lieu »), dropped, or time-barred.

Investigation

A police or judicial investigation is documented, with no known formal charge.

Civil / administrative proceedings

Civil, administrative or financial proceedings are documented. These are not criminal proceedings: they count neither as a formal charge nor as a conviction.

Allegations

Accusations or reports are documented, with no known legal proceedings.

No legal proceedings

The controversy does not involve any documented legal proceedings.

Status not specified

The legal status is not specified in the available sources.

A « conviction » only ever means a court decision finding the person guilty. A moral, political or institutional condemnation (« the UN condemns », « the university condemns ») is not one. Likewise, a parliamentary committee of inquiry or a press investigation is not a judicial investigation.

The status shown is the current documented status. If a person was acquitted, if the case was dismissed or if a conviction was overturned, the profile no longer shows a conviction, even though the text may keep a record of the earlier proceedings.

Anyone charged, prosecuted or not yet finally judged remains presumed innocent.

French legal terms are rendered as closely as possible. In particular, a French « mise en examen » — being placed under formal investigation by an investigating judge because there is serious or corroborating evidence — is shown as « Formally charged ». It is not a conviction.

A profile's counters show: the number of current convictions, and the total number of cases in which the person was formally charged, whatever the outcome (pending, followed by a conviction, or closed by a dismissal or an acquittal). Proceedings against a relative, an aide or any third party are never counted for the person profiled.

One judgment counts as one conviction, even if it covers several charges; two separate trials count as two. The documented stages of a single case are grouped together on the profile.

04Both sides

When the person concerned, their lawyers or other sources provide a response, a denial or context, it is shown under « Counterpoint / defence » for the controversy concerned.

05Verification dates

Each controversy may carry a last-verified date. Each profile shows the date of its last update. Information that has not been reviewed for a long time should be read with caution.

06Languages

Profiles are written in French; the English version is a translation, and the French version is authoritative. When a French text changes, its English translation is withdrawn until it has been updated, and the French original is shown instead.

Legal statuses are never machine-translated: they come from a fixed, reviewed glossary.

07The constellation

Two profiles are linked when a documented controversy of one names the other. The link points to that controversy and its sources; it does not indicate a personal relationship.

A link does not, on its own, prove a personal relationship or any involvement in a controversy. The width of a line is the number of documented references, not a measure of closeness.

08Corrections and update requests

Every profile lets readers request an update by explaining what should be corrected or added. Requests are reviewed by the editorial team, which may amend the profile, add to it or keep it as is.

Financial support for the project is entirely optional. It has no effect on how a request is handled, nor on the content of any profile.

09What Controversia does not do

Controversia gives no rating, no severity score and no moral ranking. The figures shown are factual counts (number of controversies, sources, formal charges and documented convictions).