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Clean hands, sometimes called the clean hands doctrine, unclean hands doctrine, or dirty hands doctrine, [1] is an equitable defense in which the defendant argues that the plaintiff is not entitled to obtain an equitable remedy because the plaintiff is acting unethically or has acted in bad faith with respect to the subject of the complaint—that is, with "unclean hands".
For example, in competitor-vs.-competitor lawsuits, the defendant may assert unclean hands if it believes the plaintiff has engaged in serious misconduct that relates to the subject of relief being sought. In other words, a "plaintiff must not behave inequitably with respect to the rights being asserted in the case."
In an affirmative defense, the defendant may concede that they committed the alleged acts, but they prove other facts which, under the law, either justify or excuse their otherwise wrongful actions, or otherwise overcomes the plaintiff's claim. In criminal law, an affirmative defense is sometimes called a justification or excuse defense. [4]
In common law jurisdictions, a resulting trust is an equitable creation, rather than a common law concept. Consequently, equitable defenses like laches, unclean hands, and the duty to do equity may be recognized in some jurisdictions. For instance, if a transferor conveys property for an unlawful purpose and benefits from it, a court might rule ...
Unclean hands. In addition to defenses against prosecution and liability, a defendant may also raise a defense of justification – such as self-defense and defense of others or defense of property. In English law, one could raise the argument of a contramandatum, which was an argument that the plaintiff had no cause for complaint. [3]
In pari delicto (potior/melior est conditio possidentis), Latin for "in equal fault (better is the condition of the possessor)", [1] is a legal term used to refer to two persons or entities who are equally at fault, whether the malfeasance in question is a crime or tort.
California gun safety regulations going into effect Jan. 1. In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of laws aimed at strengthening gun safety regulations. Those include ...
Here contractual remedies cannot be enforced by a court on a defendant if it is manifest that the subject matter of the contract is either directly or by implication, contrary to public policy or in contradiction with any existing law or custom. A somewhat related concept in the law of contracts is the equitable defense of unclean hands.