Equity is frequently referred to as a supplement to the common law. Cruzon defines Equity as a system of law developed by the court of chancery in parallel with the common law. It was designed to complement it, providing remedies for situations that were unavailable at Law. Because of this, Equity provided a dimension of flexibility and justice that was often times lacking because of the common law’s rigidity. This rigidity stems from the fact that, while courts sometimes altered their jurisdictions and procedures, the fundamental premises and noticeable forms of the common law went largely unchanged between the 13th and 19th centuries.
The common law was regarded as a birthright for all Englishmen; however, as the Crown continued to impose new jurisdictions, many statues sought to protect the peoples’ right to due process. In 1215 the Magna Carta was issued which sought to protect a free man’s right to life, liberty, and property except by the due process of the law. These statutes meant to limit the power of the crown, the very power that had introduced the common law as an alternative to the previous localized form of justice, and characterized a shift in the common law. Yet, due process legislation could only be invoked where the common law was considered to be deficient, and petitions were sent to the king, seeking his grace, when this was thought to be the case. Gradually the number of these petitions increased so much that they had to be reserved for special councils of the parliament, and as they continued to increase, only the most significant petitions were reserved for the parliament. The rest, mainly private suits, were passed on to individual councilors such as the chancellor, admiral, or marshal. These councilors grew in importance as petitioners began approach the appropriate individual directly. Out of the councilors’ arrangements for dealing with these cases, along with their added significance, developed several distinct courts. The most important of these was that of the chancellor as it developed its own jurisprudence.
The Chancery began as the royal secretariat. Originally it was a department where royal writs and charters were drawn and sealed. Much of the chancellor’s later power stemmed from the fact that he had custody of the great seal of England, which was used to authenticate these documents. Because the writs originated from thi...
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... In the 19th century radical reforms of the judicial system attacked the practical flaws of the chancery. In 1813 the supreme power of the chancellor was checked by the appointment of a vice-chancellor. Later, this effort was continued by increasing the power of the Master of the Rolls, and the abolition of many of the offices in the court. By reducing the spread of the court and once again streamlining business, hopes were for joining the two courts and, once and for all, eliminating the rivalry between them. After 500 years, however, the chancery still left a bad taste in peoples’ mouths, and under Victorian legislation, the power of the supreme courts was increased to administer the law and equity: the chancery and the common law courts were abolished, forever ending the age old dispute between the two.
While the chancery was abolished, equity has taken on a broader meaning and still survives today in England and the US. It is that approach to justice giving more precedent to particular facts of a case. Equity is important because it gave increasing protection to the individual, and represented a breaking away from the medieval notion of the all-powerful feudal lord.
In 1759, the Canadian Court Justice system was brought to Canada by the French. After the battle of Quebec, all of Canada then followed the English common law system except for Quebec 1. Based on my understanding and knowledge of N. Christie’s arguments and the Canadian court system, I believe that Christie’s criticism of modern legal system is fair and it effects our current court system today.
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.
As medieval England became more bureaucratic, the need for lawyers who understood both the laws of God and the laws of the crown increased. The training of priests and lawyers in the 14th century was similar and Trinity Hall soon established a reputation and tradition for law, which continues to this day.
Various treaties of the sixteenth century distinguish between justice, equity and mercy or clemency. James E. Phillips summarizes the definitons of these concepts at the time: "Justice is the absolute, measure for measure equation of exact reward and punishment according to the letter of the law, Equity is the taking into account of the individual circumstances in each case and mercy or Clemency is the human and divine impulse to forgive." (Phillips, 105) In the case of the monarch, he/she could only show mercy if the offence directly affected his/her person and once the offender confessed and pleaded for mercy.
In the United States, true equality has never existed. From the Declaration of Independence to modern times, the U.S. legal system has failed in any attempt at equality. The ideology of "all [men] are equal but some [men] are more equal than others" has been present throughout the history of the U.S. (Orwell). Inequality has always existed in the United States legal system and continues to exist today; however, the inequality presently in the system is not as blatant as what it once was, but the system has come to depend on inequality. Since the very beginning of a legal system in the United States, there has been inequality.
Equity means giving every individual what he or she merits or, in more conventional terms, giving every individual his or her due. Equity and reasonableness are nearly related terms that are frequently today utilized conversely. There have, be that as it may, additionally been more unmistakable understandings of the two terms. While equity normally has been utilized with reference to a standard of rightness, decency frequently has been utilized as to a capacity to judge without reference to one 's emotions or intrigues; reasonableness has additionally been utilized to allude to the capacity to make judgments that are not excessively general but rather that are concrete and particular to a specific case. Regardless, an idea of desert is significant to both equity and decency. Case in point, are requesting what they think they merit when they are requesting that they be treated with equity and decency. At the point when individuals contrast over what they accept ought to be given, or when choices must be
The American court system came to be through the Judiciary Act of 1789 which was signed by President George Washington on September 24, 1789. The constitution had established the Supreme Court, but reserved the authority for Congress to create lower federal courts. This act set the structure and the jurisdiction of such courts and generated the position for Attorney General. The Act also organized the United States into circuits and districts, which formed thirteen district courts, one for each state. Before the modern era, the justice court system used different principles to punish criminals and solve disputes. During the American colonial times, religion was an important influence when the time for a verdict by the court came into play. They would use the principle of “Actus Reas”, meaning guilty act, and “Mens Rea”, meaning guilty mind. They believed that all men are sinners and therefore be punished as such. Sir William Blackstone established and influenced new, but similar, principles that were all biblical-origin and similar to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Today, the court system is broken d...
Equity is the principle of fairness. Equity involves recognizing that people are different and need different support and resources to ensure their rights are realized. To ensure fairness (or equality), measures must often be taken to compensate for specific discrimination and disadvantages.
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.
The challenges to the power of the Monarch was by the reign of James I (1603-25) the monarch was faced with an increasing effective Parliament, culminating in the temporary abolition of the monarchy in (1625). Consequently, the monarchy’s powers were eroded by both revolution and by legal challenges, which included the case of Proclamations (1611) , the monarchy could not change the law by proclamation. The law of the land, which required that the law be made by Parliament, limited the prerogative. In the case of Prohibitions Del Roy (1607) the Monarch had no right to act as a judge, and in the case of the Ship Money Case (1637), although th...
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.
Hume opens with the following “… justice is useful to society, and consequently that part of its merits, at least, must arise from that consideration, it would be a superfluous undertaking to prove. That public utility is the sole origin of justice, and that reflections o...
According to Aristotle, distributive justice incorporates the allocation of resources amongst society(Aristotle, trans W.d Ross, 1994). These resources can include education, profession, honor, status, money, or property (Pollsky, 2012, p. 54). There are a variety of theories that describe various methods of carrying out distributive justice including ideas of need, merit, and entitlement. These ideas work in order to bring the goal of justice which is equality and fairness within society. However, the reason that this is not the most important form of justice is that it is too narrow in scope.
Social justice historic Marxist classical writers believe that social justice is a historical category , historic , rather than an eternal category ; concept of a fair society is the relationship between the social production of the decision, the different ways in which social production fair concept is different. Engels pointed out : Fair is not a priori decide what economic relations , on the contrary, it is determined by economic relations , it is standard on fair economic relations with the changes and change. [1] (P310) " the concept of equality , regardless of the form of the emergence of the bourgeoisie , or in the form of the proletariat, is itself a product of history , the formation of this concept requires a certain historical ties , and this species Youyi past historical relationship itself is premised on a long history , so this is what the concept of equality , it is not eternal truth . "[2] P117) Engels said that the fair " is always just the existing economic relations or to reflect its conservative side, or reflect the ideas of revolutionary aspects of the performance of sacred Greeks and Romans considered fair view of slavery was fair ; . 1789 fair view of the assets by the abolition of the feudal system , because it is said that it is unfair. in the Prussian Junker seems that even the poor area of law is also fair eternal destruction , so the idea is not only about the eternal fair result due to time and change, even vary . " [1] (P310) Marx had used rhetorical tone, said , " : What is a" fair distribution "mean ? Is asset allocation were not assert today was " fair " it? Does it in fact is not in the mode of production on the basis of today the only " fair " distribution of it? Is economic relations is to regul...
Justice means doing benevolent actions for the betterment of humanity. Justice is defined as the “maintenance of legal, social, or moral principles by the exercise of authority or power; assignment of deserved reward or punishment” (Brown 1466). The presence of justice sustains the moral values present in society. The word justice originated in 1140 and it has not changed in spelling nor has it changed in meaning over time. Justice comes from the French word justise, meaning upright and equitable (Barnhart 409). Upright, also means a structural column which holds what is above it. This is similar to justice, that is like a pillar that supports civilization and it is necessary for the functioning of society. Likewise, equity is necessary in order to achieve fairness . The law, a common synonym for justice, maintains order and regulation (Urdang 250). This synonym echoes the other ideas linked with justice. All of these meanings are necessary to have an ideal society with the presence of justice.