Crime and Justice Atlas

How Justice Is Served
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Offense

Dereliction of Duty

Offenses Against Public Safety and State Security

Dereliction of duty is an offense under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It covers a person subject to military law who violates or fails to obey a lawful general order or regulation, who knowingly fails to obey another lawful order it is the person's duty to obey, or who is derelict in the performance of duties. A person convicted under the article is punished as a court-martial directs.

Facts
Classification Code
10 U.S.C. 892 (Article 92, UCMJ) 1
Typical Penalty
Outside wartime: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year 1
Elements of Offense
The service member knew or should have known their duties and was derelict in performing them through neglect or culpable inefficiency 1
Notable Example
United States v. Allen Lawson, 33 M.J. 946 1
Classification
Offense Grade
Minor or Summary Offense 1
Connections

Has Offense Grade

Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Dereliction of duty in American law (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section
    a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92
  • Details
    the maximum punishment allowed is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year
  • Proving dereliction
    the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the service member knew (or should have reasonably known) their duties
  • Example: court-martial
    First Lieutenant Allen Lawson was charged and convicted of dereliction of duty
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.