Negligence (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what negligence is, its origin, use in law and various examples. Also, differences with recklessness.

What is negligence?

In general, when we talk about negligence we refer to the fact that a job or activity was done with little care or applicationespecially in tasks that are vital, important or on which the lives of others depend. That is, when something was done to get by, without paying due attention or without taking the necessary measures to ensure that everything turned out well.

The word negligence comes from Latin negligencecomposed of the voices nec- (negation prefix) and read (“read”), referring to everything that is done without paying attention to the proper instructions, that is, without documenting, without learning, without minimally informing oneself. A negligent person is one who fulfills his obligations without making an effort to guarantee his success, and above all without paying the care and attention that this deserves.

This term is commonly used in the world of law. In fact constitutes a type of legal claim that people can make against an organization or against an individual that caused damage to them or their property, due to lack of care or effort in performing a job.

Generally, negligence cases involve some type of compensation for those who have suffered harm, and some type of punishment for the negligent person or institution.

Examples of negligence

There are many specific forms of negligence, usually named after the type of work performed in a poor or harmful manner. Such as:

medical malpracticewhen it involves medical work carried out in a careless or lax manner, and which therefore compromises the health or well-being of the patient. For example, when during an operation they forget a piece of gauze inside the patient and they have to operate again to remove it, thus needlessly putting their life at risk.
Legal negligencein the specific case of the legal profession, occurs when a professional in the area does not provide a client with the minimum care, respect and dedication in their services, thus causing harm to the resolution of their case, contrary to what is minimally reasonable. For example, a defense lawyer who does not study his case, who does not consider its minimum characteristics and his poor performance carries a greater sanction than minimally expected for his client.
Professional negligenceIn general, it refers to the areas of professional work, whatever they may be, in which work was carried out in a careless, unserious or rigorous manner, and that compromises third parties. It occurs, for example, when a public official does not pay attention to the documentation of the people he serves and causes unjustified and irrational delays in their procedures.
Technical negligencethat which has to do with the choice or arrangement of specific elements, the management of which requires specialized knowledge and a minimum of dedication and responsibility. For example, the poor choice of materials to build a bridge that later collapses and causes a fatal accident.

Difference between negligence and recklessness

negligence recklessness — Being reckless is being unresponsible in what you do.

Being negligent, that is, making little effort and being little responsible in what one does, especially when it involves the well-being of third parties, is not the same as being reckless. Recklessness involves taking actions without taking into account the consequences they will bring.. That is, actions carried out without good judgment (from the Latin im-“without”, pro-“forward” and videre“see”, that is, “without looking ahead”).

Recklessness can be as dangerous and reprehensible as negligence, and although in everyday language both terms could be used in a more or less similar way, they have different nuances that are especially important in matters of Law.

These nuances distinguish between the creation or aggravation of a danger due to the carelessness or naivety of people (recklessness), and the failure to take the necessary precautions to neutralize a danger that already exists (negligence). This often involves a difference in matters of good faith: The imprudent man acts badly believing he is doing well, while the negligent often knows the risk who makes another run and chooses not to make an effort to avoid it.

Let's explain this difference using an example: imagine a doctor who operates on someone with a simple and quick intervention, but the patient unexpectedly dies in the operating room. When a specialized commission carries out investigations, it discovers that the patient died due to one of two options:

Imprudencesince he was operated on even though the procedure involved risks due to his overweight. By not having warned the patient of the risks of his condition and having proceeded to operate without taking into account the danger to the patient, the doctor has acted without the necessary prudence.
Negligencesince he was operated on without the medical staff correctly calculating the correct dose of anesthesia. By acting in such a careless and irresponsible manner, the anesthesiologist has been negligent and has caused the death of someone who could ordinarily have survived the intervention.

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