Учебный год 22-23 / summery

Romodanova Olga

Group 202

TEXT 3 EQUITY

The subject of the text is right of equity. What does it means and when it appeared.

Under the word “equity” lawyers understand a specific set of legal principles of fairness and natural justice and they often contrast equity and 'law' in the meaning ‘common law’.

Appearing after the Norman Conquest common law began more and more used in courts. Civil actions in these courts had to be started by a writ, but it became a problem because in the thirteenth century creating new writs was stopped. And when litigant couldn’t fit his circumstances to one of the available types of writ he was deprived of every kind of legal protection. More than that, rigidity of common law confirmed by the fact, that it offered only one remedy, damages. Consequently, many people were unable to seek redress for wrongs through the common law courts. That is why they petitioned the king, and then to the Chancellor. This was the beginning of the Court of Chancery. The decisions of the Chancellor were based on his own moral view of the question. This court differed from common law courts with disclosing documents and oral evidence. Also remedies of the Court of Chancery were more suitable for cases, they are: specific performance, damages and injunction.

The Court of Chancery became popular, and caused some resentment among common lawyers. On the one hand the quality of decisions depended on the qualities of the individual Chancellor and precedents were not followed that’s why nobody could predict what a decision might be. On the other hand equity is very flexible. It is impossible to foresee and lay down all the specific exceptions in which general rules should not apply, but equity use good sense and fairness for each case. Also the Court of Chancery had the right to issue a common injunction, preventing the unjust exercise of the common law right. In 1615 in the The Earl of Oxford's Case conflict between the common law courts and the Court of Chancery ended with king’s decision that where there was conflict, equity should prevail. Then principles of precedent became acceptable to the equity and the Chancellor became a lawyer, not clergy.

The fact that equity became a body of law resulted in an enacting the Judicature Acts of 1873—75, which established the basis of the court structure we have today, provided that equity and common law could both be administered by all courts.