Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Negligence
n. 1. The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation; any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm, except for conduct that is intentionally, wantonly, or willfully disregardful of others' rights. 0 The term denotes culpable carelessness. The Roman-law equivalents are culpa and negligentia, as contrasted with dolus (wrongful intention). - Also termed actionable negligence; ordinary negligence; simple negligence. 2. A tort grounded in this failure, usu. expressed in terms of the following elements: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
actionable negligence.
See NEGLIGENCE.
active negligence
Negligence resulting from an affirmative or positive act, such as driving through a barrier. Cf, passive negligence.
active negligence.
See NEGLIGENCE.
advertent negligence
Negligence in which the actor is aware of the unreasonable risk that he or she is creating; RECKLESSNESS. -Also termed willful negligence.
collateral negligence
See NEGLIGEN(F.
collateral-negligence doctrine
The rule holding that one who engages an independent contractor is not liable for physical harm that the contractor causes if (1) the contractor's negligence consists solely of the improper manner in which the contractor's work is performed, (2) the risk of harm created is not normal to the work, and (3) the employer had no reason to contemplate the contractor's negligence when the contract was made. collateral note See secured note under NOTE.
comparative negligence
A plaintiff's own negligence that proportionally reduces the damages recoverable from a defendant. -Also termed comparative fault. See COMPARATIVE-NEGLIGENCE DOCTRINE.
comparative-negligence doctrine
Torts. The principle that reduces a plaintiff's recovery proportionally to the plaintiff's degree of fault in causing the damage, rather than barring recovery completely. ( Most states have statutorily adopted the comparative-negligence doctrine. See NEGLIGENCE. Cf. CNTRIBC-'DORY-NEGLIGENCE DOCTRINE.
concurrent negligence
See NEGLIGENCE,
contributory negligence
1. A plaintiff's own negligence that played a part in causing the plaintiff's injury and that is significant enough (in a few jurisdictions) to bar the plaintiff from recovering damages. ( In most jurisdictions, this defense has been superseded by comparative negligence. See CONTRIBUTORY-NEGLIGENCE DOCTRINE. 2. Rare. The negligence of a third party - neither the plaintiff nor the defendant - whose act or omission played a part in causing the plaintiff's injury. "The contributory negligence of a third party is no excuse for the negligence of the defendant." Thomas E. Holland, The Elements of Jurisprudence 154 (13th ed. 1924).
contributory-negligence doctrine
Torts. The principle that completely bars a plaintiff's recovery if the damage suffered is partly the plaintiff's own fault. ( Most states have abolished this doctrine and have adopted instead a comparative-negligence scheme. See LI- GENCE. Cf. COMPARATIVE-NEGLIGENCE DOCTRINE.
criminal negligence
Gross negligence so extreme that it is punishable as a crime. ( For example, involuntary manslaughter or other negligent homicide can be based on criminal negligence, as when an extremely careless automobile driver kills someone. -Also termed culpable negligence; gross negligence. "Though the legislatures and the courts have often made it clear that criminal liability generally requires more fault than the ordinary negligence which will do for tort liability, they have not so often made it plain just what is required in addition to tort negligence - greater risk, subjective awareness of the risk, or both. Statutes are sometimes worded in terms of 'gross negligence' or 'culpable negligence' or 'criminal negligence,' without any further definition of these terms .... The courts thus have had to do their best with little guidance from the legislature, with varying results." Wayne R. LaFave & Austin W. Scott, Jr., Criminal law § 3.7, at 235-37 (2d ed. 1986).
culpable negligence
See NEGLIGENCE.
degree of negligence
One of the varying levels of negligence typically designated as slight negligence, ordinary negligence, and gross negligence. See NEGLIGENCE. "Although the common law concept of degrees of negligence has been criticized or repudiated in many jurisdictions, the usefulness of the view at common law that degrees of negligence exist is still recognized in a number of jurisdictions, particularly in regard to the distinction between ordinary and gross negligence. Furthermore, legislators have not been dissuaded from using the degrees of negligence concept when it is helpful to achieve a legislative purpose." 57A Am. Jur. 2d Negligence § 233, at 274 (1989).
estoppel by negligence
See ESTOPPEL.
gross negligence
1. A lack of slight diligence or care. 2. A conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party, who may typically recover exemplary damages. - Also termed reckless negligence; wanton negligence; willful negligence; willful and wanton negligence; hazardous negligence. 3. See criminal negligence. "Negligence is gross if the precautions to be taken against harm are very simple, such as persons who are but poorly endowed with physical and mental capacities can easily take." H.L.A. Hart, "Negligence, Mens Rea and Criminal Responsibility," in Punishment and Responsibility 136, 149 (1968).
gross negligence.
See NEGLIGENCE.
hazardous negligence
1. Careless or reckless conduct that exposes someone to extreme danger of injury or to imminent peril. 2. See gross negligence.
hazardous negligence.
See NEGLIGENCE.
imputed negligence
Negligence of one person charged to another; negligence resulting from a party's special relationship with another party who is originally negligent - so that, for example, a parent might be held responsible for some acts of a child.
inadvertent negligence
Negligence in which the actor is not aware of the unreasonable risk that he or she is creating, but should have foreseen and avoided it. - Also termed simple negligence.
joint negligence
The negligence of two or more persons acting together to cause an accident. Cf. concurrent negligence.
legal negligence
See negligence per se under NEGLIGENCE.
modified-comparative-negligence doctrine.
See 50-PERCENT RULE.
negligence in law
Failure to observe a duty imposed by law. See negligence per se; legal negligence.
negligence per se.
Negligence established as a matter of law, so that breach of the duty is not a jury question. ( Negligence per se usu. arises from a statutory violation. - Also termed legal negligence.
negligence rule
Commercial law. The principle that if a party's negligence contributes to an unauthorized signing or a material alteration in a negotiable instrument, that party is estopped from raising this issue against later parties who transfer or pay the instrument in good faith. ( Examples of negligence include leaving blanks or spaces on the amount line of the instrument, erroneously mailing the instrument to a person with the same name as the payee, and failing to follow internal procedures designed to prevent forgeries.
nuisance dependent on negligence
See qualified nuisance.
ordinary negligence
See NEGLIGENCE.
passive negligence
Negligence resulting from a person's failure or omission in acting, such as failing to remove hazardous conditions from public property. Cf. active negligence.
professional negligence
See MALPRACTICE.
pure-comparative-negligence doctrine
The principle that liability for negligence is apportioned in accordance with the percentage of fault that the fact-finder assigns to each party and that a plaintiff's percentage of fault reduces the amount of recoverable damages but does not bar recovery. Cf. 50-PERCENT RULE. See comparative negligence under NEGLIGENCE; APPORTIONMENT OF LIABILITY.
reckless negligence
See gross negligence.
shipowner-negligence doctrine
The principle that a shipowner is liable for an assault on a crew member if the crew member was assaulted by a superior, in the context of an activity undertaken for the benefit of the ship's business, and if the ship's officers could reasonably have foreseen the assault.
simple negligence.
See inadvertent negligence.
slight negligence
The failure to exercise the great care of an extraordinarily prudent person, resulting in liability in special circumstances (esp. those involving bailments or carriers) in which lack of ordinary care would not result in liability; lack of great diligence.
subsequent negligence
See NEGLIGENCE.
subsequent-negligence doctrine
See LASTCLEARrCHANCE DOCTRINE.
supervening negligence
See subsequent negligence under NEGLIGENCE. supervening-negligence doctrine See LASTCLEAIi~CHANCE DOCTRINE.
tax negligence
Negligence arising out of the disregard of tax-payment laws, for which the Internal Revenue Service may impose a penalty - 5% of the amount underpaid. IRC (26 USCA) § 6651(a).
wanton negligence
See gross negligence.
willful and wanton negligence
See gross negligence.
willful negligence
See gross negligence under NEGLIGENCE.
wrong of negligence
See WRONG.
wrong of negligence.
A wrong in which the mens rea is a form of mere carelessness, as opposed to wrongful intent.