Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
estoppel by laches
See ESTOPPEL.
laches
[Law French "remissness; slackness"] 1. Unreasonable delay or negligence in pursuing a right or claim - almost always an equitable one - in a way that prejudices the party against whom relief is sought. "Early in its history, Chancery developed the doctrine that where the plaintiff in equity delayed beyond the period of the statute applicable at law, relief would be refused on the ground of laches even though no specific prejudice to the defendant was shown. Today, in most states, there are statutes of limitations applying to suits in equity. Despite these, however, the doctrine still holds that even if the delay is for a shorter period of time than that of the statute, it may still bar equitable relief if it is unreasonable and prejudicial to the defendant." John F. O'Connell, Remedies in a Nutshell 16 (2d ed. 1985). 2. The equitable doctrine by which a court denies relief to a claimant who has unreasonably delayed or been negligent in asserting the claim, when that delay or negligence has prejudiced the party against whom relief is sought. Cf. LIMITATION (3). "The doctrine of laches is an instance of the exercise of the reserved power of equity to withhold relief other- wise regularly given where in the particular case the granting of such relief would be unfair or unjust." William F. Walsh, A Treatise on Equity 472 (1930).
laches, estoppel by
See estoppel by larches under ESTOPPEL.