In a legal context, promptitude refers to a duty or intention to act without delay. Its opposite is

tardiness Tardiness is the habit of being late or delaying arrival. Being late as a form of misconduct may be formally punishable in various arrangements, such as workplace, school, etc. An opposite personality trait is punctuality. Workplace tardiness ...

, also called (in

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

), ''mora''.Downie, G.
Calling time on mora
''Law Society of Scotland'', published 17 May 2010, accessed 2 December 2023 Legislation or judicial rules may require actions to be taken promptly or within a specified timescale, or may provide for actions not taken promptly or within a specified timescale to be ineffective or less effective than actions taken promptly.

Examples

India

*The Banking, Public Financial Institutions and Negotiable Instruments Laws (Amendment) Act, 1988, which amended the

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is an act in India dating from the British Raj, British colonial rule, that is still in force with significant amendments recently. It deals with the law governing the usage of negotiable instruments in India. Th ...

, established that payment of a

cheque A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...

not presented to the bank within six months from the date on which it was drawn could not be enforced if the account against which it was drawn did not have sufficient funds.

Ireland

*Order 84A of the Rules of the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

was revised by the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

on 8 September 2010 to make Irish practice on public procurement challenges consistent with EU law. The rule requires that actions be brought within 30 calendar days of when the claimant "knew or ought to have known" of the alleged infringement".

United Kingdom

*A claim for a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

of the lawfulness of legislation or of a public decision or action must be filed "promptly, and in any event not later than 3 months after the grounds to make the claim first arose". In ''R. v

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

ex parte TV Northern Ireland Ltd'' (1996), it was held that "It is not correct to proceed on the basis that applicants have three months in which to seek judicial review", because they are also required to act "with the utmost promptitude". *When first implemented, UK public procurement review legislation required bidders wishing to challenge a

public body A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

's procurement decisions (in situations where the Public Contracts Regulations applied) to bring proceedings "promptly, and in any event within three months from the date when bringing the proceedings first arose. However, in 2010 in a legal case raised between Uniplex (UK) Ltd. and the

NHS Business Services Authority The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care which provides a number of support services to the National Health Service in England and Wales. It was created ...

, the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

declared that the word "promptly" was not sufficiently clear and precise to comply with European Union (EU) law. Article 1 of the EU's ''Directive on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of review procedures to the award of public supply and public works contracts'' (Directive 89/665/EEC, then in force) required

Member States A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

to "take the measures necessary to ensure that, as regards contract award procedures ..., decisions taken by the contracting authorities may be reviewed effectively and, in particular, as rapidly as possible", but precise wording, such as "within three months" but without the "promptly, and" aspect, was necessary to ensure sufficient certainty and predictability. Amendments to the UK procurement law taking account of the court ruling were implemented in October 2011.

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

Procurement policy note 06/11: amendments to the procurement regulations, including 'Uniplex'
published 31 August 2011, updated 31 January 2023, accessed 2 December 2023

References

{{reflist

Examples

India

Ireland

United Kingdom

See also

References

Further reading