Equity Aids The Vigilant, Not Those Who Slumber On Their Rights
Vigilantibus non dormientibus aequitas subvenit.
A person who has been wronged must act relatively swiftly to preserve their rights. Otherwise, they are guilty of laches, an untoward delay in litigation with the presumed intent of denying claims. This differs from a statute of limitations, in that a delay is particularized to individual situations, rather than a general prescribed legal amount of time. In addition, even where a limitation period has not yet run, laches may still occur. The equitable rule of laches and acquiescence was first introduced in Chief Young Dede v. African Association Ltd. (1910) 1 N.L.R 130 at 133.
Alternatives:
- Delay defeats equity
- Equity aids the vigilant, not those who sleep on their rights
Read more about this topic: Maxims Of Equity
Famous quotes containing the words equity, aids, slumber and/or rights:
“If equity and human natural reason were allowed there would be no law, there would be no lawyers.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“It could be said that the AIDS pandemic is a classic own-goal scored by the human race against itself.”
—(B. 1950)
“Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“Women’s rights is not only an abstraction, a cause; it is also a personal affair. It is not only about “us”; it is also about me and you. Just the two of us.”
—Toni Morrison (b. 1931)