Diligence - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition diligence

Definition :

Diligence, care, of which there are infinite shades, from the slightest momentary thought to the most vigilant anxiety; but the law recognizes only three degrees of diligence: (1) Common or ordinary, which men in general exert in respect of their own concerns; the standard is necessarily variable with respect to the facts, although it may be uniform with respect to the principle. (2) High or great, which is extraordinary diligence, or that which very prudent persons take of their own concerns. (3) Low or slight, which is that which persons of less than common prudence, or indeed of no prudence at all, take of their own concerns.

The Civil Law is in conformity with the Common Law. It lays down three degrees of diligence--ordinary (diligentia), extraordinary (exactissima diligentia), slight (levissima diligentia), Story on Bailments, 19.

In Scots law, the term 'diligence' signifies execution. See NEGLIGENCE.