négligence

Négligence, or negligence in English, is the failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would in similar circumstances, resulting in harm or risk of harm. In many legal systems, negligence is a central concept in civil liability and tort law.

The core elements of negligence are fourfold: a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the harm, and damages suffered by the plaintiff. The duty of care may arise from relationships such as driver and pedestrian, doctor and patient, or employer and employee. The standard of care is usually the reasonable person standard, but professionals are often judged by the standard of care of a reasonably competent practitioner in their field.

Causation requires that the breach be a proximate cause of the injury, and that the plaintiff’s damages are not too remote. Negligence is distinguished from intentional wrongdoing and from recklessness or gross negligence, which may carry higher penalties or different liability rules. In some jurisdictions, gross negligence or willful disregard can support criminal liability.

Defenses to negligence claims include contributory negligence (where the plaintiff’s own fault reduces or bars recovery), comparative negligence (fault apportioned among parties), and assumption of risk (voluntary acceptance of a known danger).

Applications of negligence appear in medical malpractice, product liability, and premises liability, among others. Etymology traces négligence to Latin neglegentia, via Old French negligence; the term in French retains a closely related meaning.