Discuss in brief the historical origin of equity as a distinct aspect of the English legal system and its subsequent merger with the common law. In order to understand equity in its entirety, one must discuss the historical background of common law and how it was developed. Prior to the Norman inquest in England in 1066, England was ruled by Anglo Saxons. Their legal system consisted of small kingdoms which had differing legal rules. Their legal rules was written and recorded in code language, taken from the Romans. The courts where ruled by local ‘kings’. When the Normans invaded England in 1066, their ideas on legal rule was quite different to the Saxons. Soon the idea of local ‘kings’ or only local law was being ousted and the idea of a common law system was starting to …show more content…
This was useful where damages were not adequate, e.g., in the sale of land. Thus if the seller refused to sell after signing a contract, the buyer could obtain an order of specific performance making the seller sell the house. (b) Rectification, which allowed a written document to be changed if it did not represent the actual agreement made by the parties. (c) Rescission, which allowed parties to a contract to be put back in their original position in the case of a contract induced by a misrepresentation. (d) Injunctions, usually an order to stop a person doing a particular act, like acting in breach of contract (a prohibitory injunction). The two, common law and equity, came head to head in the earl of Oxfords case 1919. The common law court had decided for one party and the equity court had lodged an injunction preventing the party, who had won at the common law court, from acting on the judgement given at common law. The conflict was given to the attorney general to decide on which should prevail. He ruled that where common law and equity was conflicting then equity always
The “writ of Henry I on local courts” is an administrative command issued around 1108 by Henry I, King of England during the Anglo-Norman period from 1100 till 1135. Henry addresses the writ to two individuals specifically in the country of Worcestershire, Samson and Urse of Abbetot, as well as to the barons of Worcestershire generally. Samson and Urse both held titles of prestige and power in Worcestershire County as the bishop and sheriff respectively at the time. The writ generally concerns the court systems, both royal and local, and more specifically delineates the jurisdictional spheres to be enjoyed by the particular courts concerning land disputes. Technically, the writ alludes to four distinct courts: the King’s Court, the Lord’s Court, and the County (or Shire) Court and the Hundred Court. Moreover, it refers to two types of people within Anglo-Norman society: the barons, or lords, and the vassals, or those who held the lands of, and at the pleasures of, the barons.
The decision of the House of Lords in City of London Building Society v Flegg marks a key stage in how the balance is drawn between occupiers and creditors in priority disputes; the seeds of which were originally planted in the Law of Property Act 1925. It posed a serious challenge to the conventional understanding of overreaching and the machinery of conveyancing.Ref ?
In conclusion, "To strive for justice, one must be a person of principles. There is no single principle that one can use to achieve justice in the resolution of legal disputes." This is true because one must use a wide array of principles that come from moral and legal perspectives in order to gain a resolution. Unfortunately society has deemed it necessary to incorporate social stratification into some of these principles. The law tends to have more leniencies to those who have higher positions in society. With as many classes as our society today, it is impossible to find a jury of peers. Each person has their own idea of cultural norms, legal and moral principles, and a socio-class in which they belong to. Therefore, I contend that social stratification, whether it is between races, or economical levels, will always have some role in legal decisions.
This essay will hold a discussion regarding two main principles: fairness and justice. In particular, to what extent Australian legal system is based on fairness and justice?
Having evaluated the current state of English contract law, mainly made up of piecemeal solutions, it can be seen that despite being satisfactory and doing its job, there still remain gaps within the law of contract where unfairness is not dealt with. Moreover, due to the ad hoc nature of those piecemeal solutions, the latter have often produced inconsistent justice and have manifested cases of unfairness. Hence, “a relatively small number of respected Justices have endeavored to draw attention to the fact that the application of a general principle might be useful and even necessary in English law.”
Lord Denning described estoppel succinctly as ‘a principle of justice and equity. It comes to this: when a man, by his words or conduct, has led another to believe in a particular state of affairs, he will not be allowed to go back on it when it would be unjust or inequitable for him to do so’ . Proprietary estoppel in turn is an informal method by which proprietary rights can arise. It can provide a defence to an action by a landowner who seeks to enforce his strict rights against someone who has been informally promised some right or liberty over the land. In turn it can be used as a defence or a cause of action. In order to show how the two doctrines are quite similar, a description of the elements of proprie...
Law and Society, Ninth Edition, by Steven Vago. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc
In Bleak House, Dickens presents an ironic case that condemns England’s legal system which in this case is the Court of Chancery. The Court of Chancery represented England’s justice system and held the role as Keeper of the King’s Conscience by the Lord High Chancellor. The Court of Chancery had authority over all matters of equity which include anything with criminal cases, trusts, land law, wills, guardianship, estates, marriage, and adoption. They had jurisdiction over many of these things to avoid any injustice that arose from the common law. Despite their role, the Court is shown with bitterness towards their institution as Dickens sets out to critique their system. In society, the Court of Chancery...
(b) the other party does make the contract in the course of a business; and
Rackley, E (2010). In Conversation with Lord Justice Etherton: Revisiting the Case for a More Diverse Judiciary. Public Law
Part of the grounds for arguing in favor of the common law system over the codified system is its characteristically equitable qualities. Since antecedents are pursued in all cases, everyone gets the same treatment. This same legal procedure is administered to everyone in spite of their position or creed. Therefore, this system of going by antecedents which had hitherto been set usually leads to equity and fairness. This system of law also has the advantage over the codified system by offering protection to persons via the law of tort.
United Kingdom is a country with a distinctive set of legal system. It is fairly different from other countries having civil law based legal systems. The legal system in the United Kingdom consists of various sources of law, where other civil law based countries rely only on a written set of law. European influences on the English Legal System came much later in near decades. This essay will aim to examine the development of the English Legal System by reviewing applications of various sources of law in the English Legal System furthermore to discuss the recent European influences on the law of England.
Firstly in this report, I will be giving the different definitions of rule of law by different philosophers; secondly, I will be applying the rule of law to the English Legal system and thirdly I will be explaining separation of powers with a focus on the impartial judiciary. Finally, I will be using cases to support every detailed point given.
...ub principles of consideration, which is also known as one of the most important methodical processes of a formation of a contract. Overall, this may be seen as the essence of a legal contract, the exchange of consideration, which if excluded, will contain nothing more than an unenforceable promise.
Man has recognized the importance of justice in his society since the earliest of times. In order to serve justice, there has to be a law to settle differences among the people of the state. The history of law in relation to society reveals that humanity’s earliest efforts at lawmaking were prompted by the basic desire of self-preservation. Although engulfed by a society that necessitated such combinations as clans and tribes for protection, as well as for social and economic advancement, the nature of the individual led to the development of certain expressed general rights with regard to person and property1. Generally, these unwritten rules governing social and economic interaction recognized the right to defend oneself from injury as well as to enjoy property without outside interference. While sufficient for primitive societies, unwritten rules of social control were ineffective in a rapidly developing society. So, an effort was made to clarify them so that all the people would know their definitions, limits, and applications.