Laches

Slackness; neglect; remissness; delay or neglect in making a claim or enforcing a right, which, if not excused, as by ignorance or legal disability, will operate to bar a remedy which it is discretionary with the court to afford. Jacob (Dict.) considers that "probably it may be an old English word; for when we say there is laches of entry, it is all one as if it were said there is a lack of entry; and in this signification it is used." In modern law-books, laches is most frequently found in discussions upon the effect of a party's delay to assert his claim to some equitable right or remedy. The time within which a plaintiff may sue at law is quite definitely fixed by statutes of limitations, which cover the ground so fully that the only question mooted as to loss of the right to bring a legal action is whether it is "barred" by the statute. Courts of equity generally follow the statutes of limitations, in cases to which they apply. There is, however, a broad field of equitable jurisdiction, in which the appeal of the complainant is so far to the discretion or conscience of the chancellor, that he may refuse relief, upon the ground that, under the circumstances of the case, the complainant's delay to proceed has been so great that it would be inequitable to disturb defendant in his possession. It is in this class of cases that the doctrine of laches is chiefly discussed and applied; and, in this connection, the word signifies such a delay to sue, to make a demand or a tender, to take possession, or the like, as warrants a court of equity in refusing relief which it might probably have granted had the party taken seasonable steps to secure his rights. A similar question is often raised in objection to a suit in admiralty, in reference to claims as to which no statute of limitations prescribes a definite rule. Admiralty courts exercise a discretion in refusing to entertain a suit, where unreasonable delay, operating to defendant's prejudice, has occurred. The word laches is sometimes used in connection with this feature of admiralty practice; but the phrase more commonly employed is to say that the claim has become "stale."