The article is devoted to the study of the criminal legal meaning of the concept of «accusation» and current issues of changing the accusation by the prosecutor. The accusation predetermines the essence of the protection of the legitimate interests of the state and the citizen, which is considered the driving force of criminal proceedings, that is, the accusation is the institution of the criminal process through which the functioning of the criminal prosecution system is ensured, therefore, by discussing the theoretical basis of the accusatory activity, we can begin to determine its practical basis and propose possible options for its legislative development are expected. As for the institution of changing accusation, this is one of the prosecutor’s functions. It is obvious that the initial impulse for the emergence and development of all other criminal procedural functions is the accusation. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the judicial process is variable and at each stage receives more factual data, and in connection with new factual data, the factual circumstances of the case may change, including the criminal legal category of the acts that became the accused, that is, they are not excluded circumstances of such factual circumstances that were not disclosed and could not be disclosed and which objectively require a change accusation presented to the accused.