Duties

Deriliction Of Duties

Duties Avatar
Duties

Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92, and applies to all branches of the US military. It involves a service member willfully refusing to perform their duties or follow a given order, or incapacitating themselves in such a way that they cannot fulfill their responsibilities. Examples of incapacitation include falling asleep while on duty, being intoxicated, self-inflicted injury, or leaving one’s post contrary to regulations[1].

In legal terms, dereliction is the abandonment of an obligation. In the workplace or military context, it refers to a purposeful or accidental failure to perform an obligation without a valid excuse. Work performed in a culpably inefficient manner—without reasonable or just excuse—also constitutes dereliction of duty[3].

Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) considers it dereliction of duty if a person intentionally fails to perform assigned tasks or performs so poorly, without excuse, that the job is not properly done. Key elements include:

  • Violation of a lawful order or regulation
  • Failure to obey a lawful order
  • Dereliction in the performance of duties

If a lack of skill (ineptitude) is proven, Article 92 does not apply; however, this is rare as members are generally trained to standard before being given responsibilities[7].

The consequences of dereliction of duty can be severe. Punishments may include a court-martial, non-judicial punishment, administrative separation, dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances, confinement, and, in wartime, potentially even the death penalty for the most egregious cases[1][8].

Dereliction of duty is not only a military concern. In the broader workplace, employees may be accused if they, for example, ignore clients to finish administrative work, fail to follow safety procedures, or abandon important assets in risky places. The motivation behind charges matters; if disciplinary action is taken out of spite rather than genuine concern, as in some labor court cases, the dismissal may be deemed unfair[2].

References

Other Posts