The Concept of Equity - Essay Example

King, perturbed by the legal effect, directed the Lord Chancellor to give judgment on matters that could be solved by natural justice. Initially, decrees were pronounced under the royal name, later, it became a practice to do so, under the name of Lord Chancellor, and the first decree in Chancellor’s name came out in 1474. Chancellor being unbound by Common Law; this gave rise to direct petitions to him by people who were disillusioned by unbending legal rulings and needed immediate remedy and this urgency and huge requirement led to the appointment of Chancery Masters. Equity flourished for centuries and gave relief to ordinary people with sensitivity and awareness of social difficulties.  

Equity deals with Inquisitorial procedure (based on questioning and examination by the judge) and the judge subpoenaing the suspects and witnesses to compel them to attend proceedings. We come across historical evidence that Common law courts resented the wide popularity of the Court of Chancery. Contradictions and opposition went on for some time and reached the peak17th-century dispute, The Earl of Oxford’s Case (1615) and King James I had to order for Attorney General’s intervention to stop Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor from bickering and according to King’s dictum where there is a conflict between equity and common law, equity prevails and it holds good even today.

Equity remains the name given to a set of legal principles practiced where English law is in vogue. Sometimes referred to as Natural Law, it is part of English legal tradition. Sources of Equity are far removed from sources of Common Law. The set of remedies that law and equity offer differ and uphold the difference between common law and equity. Equity bends more towards injunctions or degrees with directives for acting or refraining from acting and this relief is considered more practical and based on sound common sense and social knowledge. 

Equity with its emphasis on fairness and flexibility has only general guides known as the maxims of equity. Criticism prevails that it has no set of rules of its own and is baseless. At times, it is called a set of fluctuating rules that the Lord Chancellor, depending on his common sense and conscience has collected. Today it is not as flexible as it used to be and got consolidated by systems and precedents and has attained certain rigidity in its approach. Earlier Chancellors were not legally trained and this was remedied when Sir Thomas Moore became Lord Chancellors in 1529 and only lawyers succeeded him. Today’s Equity has equitable doctrines and impressive precedents and has grown into an independent branch of law. It is also referred to as Supplementary Law which is part of law of the land.

“In my view equity has added to our legal system, together with several of detached doctrines, one novel, and fertile institution, namely the trust; and three novel and fertile remedies, namely the decree for specific performance, the injunction, and the judicial administration of estates,” Maitland (1949, p.22). 

Equity has made substantial contributions to the body of law in the form of tumors Mortimer ages equitable jurisdiction through Natural Justice. It adopted a more metaphysical approach than common law, whose approach is materialistic while giving preference for substance over form and preventing the statutes as instruments of fraud. No doubt, it needs clean hands, just minds. Today injunctions have developed into (sometimes ridiculed as ‘fusion and confusion’!) a vast branch of legal knowledge. The idea and existence of Equity and its region are constantly changing in English law.

“At present, we are in a curious halfway stage when the division between common law and equity remains of vast practical importance and when at the same time changes in doctrine are taking place as a result of the breaking down of this division. Fusion of administration is bringing about fusion deadname, but the process has a long way to go yet before it will be complete,” Keeton (1976, p.29).

Equitable intervention and Equity of Redemption have become an integral part of the law for a long time now. This branch of law remains the common man’s justice supported by centuries of social justice, common sense, precedents, and to a large extent, kindness. In modern days, sometimes, Common Law and Equity could be confusing to separate, as both pose the same legal front.