ascription of responsibility for an action

noun phrase

1. The act of saying or deciding that a particular person or group is responsible for doing something, especially when assigning blame or credit.

   C1

   usually uncountableformal

   • "The report involved the ascription of responsibility for the accident to the driver."B2
   • "The ascription of responsibility for the policy's failure remains controversial among researchers."C1
   • "Any ascription of responsibility for the action must take account of the pressure under which the officials were acting."C2