Criminal negligence
A punishable breach of the required duty of care where a person fails to foresee or avoid a prohibited risk that should have been recognized.
Criminal negligence concerns liability for harmful conduct without intent. It arises when a person breaches a legally relevant duty of care and causes or risks a result that a reasonable person in the situation would have foreseen and avoided, or that the actor should personally have recognized. Swiss criminal law treats negligence as a distinct basis of liability where the offence provides for negligent commission. The assessment often depends on professional standards, traffic rules, safety duties, experience and the concrete circumstances. Criminal negligence is more serious than a mere accident but different from intentional conduct, including conditional intent. It requires a careful inquiry into foreseeability, avoidability, causation and the scope of the duty breached. The boundary with civil negligence is important because criminal punishment demands stronger justification.