Commentators and courts have noted that because certain equitable defenses were statutorily required to be tried by jury prior to the adoption of the 1894 Constitution, the deprivation of a jury trial for all equitable defenses is arguably unconstitutional. Under CPLR section 4101, when a plaintiff brings a legal action, the defendant’s equitable counterclaims should not be submitted to a jury. Under CPLR section 4102(c), when a plaintiff brings an action sounding in equity, the defendant’s legal counterclaims should be tried by a jury if so demanded. The counterclaims pled by a defendant enjoy the same careful analysis as the claims contained in the plaintiff’s complaint.…
Furthermore, within the American legal system, there are both legal and equitable remedies available to both the plaintiff and the defendant in a case. The remedy provided depends upon the type of case being decided; for example, whether the case is of the civil or criminal nature. A legal remedy often enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes another court order to impose its will. Examples of a legal remedy include restitution paid to the victim of a crime or the imposing of a prison sentence upon a defendant. Equitable remedies are distinguished from legal remedies and are quite popular in the field of contract law. Equitable remedies may involve the use of an injunction, specific performance of a contract that…
Equity was developed over centuries but initially as a reaction to the “harshness of the common law or lack of developments in common law”. Furthermore, the common law system went unchanged for centuries and was a system were petitions were presented to the King for his grace in some complaint where “the usual royal answer was let him sue in common law”. In addition, complainants often complained about officials in respect of misconduct and unfairness.…
In addition, injustice is found in law's 48, 53, and 54 in the area of property law. For example, “If a man has borrowed money to plant his fields and storm has flooded...not have to pay his creditor.” Furthermore, “If a man has opened a trench for irrigation and the waters have flooded the neighbor's field...restore..caused to be lost.” These examples show that laws are unjust because the storm was not caused by the creditor and the neighbor should be more careful where he has his crops.…
The JA does not allow courts to award damages for the breach of equitable obligation therefore, it is argued that substantive fusion has not occurred. This strengthens the dualism argument and supports Ellesmere’s comment. However, as common law and equity are administered in one court it is argued that each jurisdiction has borrowed from the other but, this has not happened because the remedies do not cross over. However, it is argued that the different remedial responses of the common law and equity arose as ‘an accident of history.’…
References: Cotterrell, R. & Michaolowski, R. Description and History of Common Law. Retrieved from http://www.radford.edu/~junnever/law/commonlaw.htm…
The true science of law according to Holmes lies in its postulates from within which law has to be measured accurately. But Holmes does not provide the mechanism or a method of evaluation of these postulates. In The Common Law (1923), Holmes repeats and elaborates his injunction to jurists to discount the part supposedly played by logical reasoning in the courts’ process of adjudication. Law can be seen as the embodiment of a nation’s long development but it cannot be interpreted merely in the terms of logic. Hence, it is important that lawyers and judges be well acquainted with the historical and social contexts of the law they administer.…
The term equitable remedy comes from the old English court system where there were two courts: courts of chancery and courts of law. Under this system, people would go to courts of chancery if the law didn't really provide them with relief but they still believed they had been wronged. Equitable remedies were and still are about what is fair and right…
Equity is defined as the sentencing principle that similar crimes and similar criminals should be treated alike. (Frank Schmalleger, 2007)Equity in sentencing has been an issue for quite a while. It has sparked heated discussions in the U.S. Congress, as well as arguments among community members. Supporters of equity in sentencing try to inspire changes to our current legislation, and its opponents are attempting to abolish it in its entirety.…
Prior to the enactment of the Judicature Act 1873, the administration of common law and equity was completely separated. The principles of equity developed in the Court of the Chancery where a ‘petitioner could seek relief from the harsh or unjust operation of the law’.[3] The Chancery Court was a court of conscience charged with ‘an extraordinary power to prevent the injustices and supply the deficiencies that were perceived in the operation of the Common Law’.[4] The disadvantage of this system was that courts of law refused to recognise equitable rights or interests. The Judicature Act 1873 was enacted in order to merge the administration of law and equity. The effect of the Act was the abolition of the old courts and the creation of a new High Court of Justice that combined the jurisdiction of the old courts.[5] The judicature system was implemented in WA by enacting in the Supreme Court Act 1880 (WA) provisions equivalent to the Act. These provisions are now located in sections 16(1), 24 and 25 of the Supreme Court Act 1935 (WA).…
Legal precedent recognizes the value of the past. Yet the judiciary is engaged in evaluating legal precedent as applied to contemporary cases. Inevitably, the role of common law in recognizing and altering precedent as applied to contemporary cases results in the creation of new precedents, which in turn will be evaluated in the future. Common law might be bound by general social principles in legal contexts, but it inevitably places the judiciary in the role of evaluating the continued relevance of those principles as new legal contexts emerge through civil…
It is an error to circumscribe equity 's jurisdiction by supposing that equitable fraud can be specifically defined, or that classes of case in which it has been found to exist are mutually exclusive, or by concluding that an element such as inadequacy of consideration or disadvantage resulting from a transaction which influenced a court to relieve in a particular case, is always essential, or that any one element, such as the presence of independent advice, which supported a refusal of relief in a particular case, will always be decisive. The prescription of certain elements, proof of which by the plaintiff is to place an "onus of justification" on the transaction of the defendant cannot make predictable decisions which depend on all the circumstances of the particular case and which necessarily involve an element of impression. It therefore seems more profitable, outside the statutory contexts in which unconscionability is made a specific ground for relief, to approach unconscionability as a component of the general jurisdiction of the courts to grant relief in cases of equitable fraud, and to see unconscionable conduct as a circumstance which may attract the exercise of that…
Equity looks to intent, rather than form. This is a question of construction of the relevant documents or of gathering inferences from the words or conduct of the alleged settlor, considering all the circumstances of the case.…
Unlike the common law, which has a set boundary of rules and regulations, equity does not have a concrete structure due to its complex historical background[1]. Trust, governed by the laws of equity, is a unique creation of common law and is often dealt with challenging and versatile series of events. This problem involves complex areas from topics of formalities, constitution of trusts, and covenants to settle. In this essay, I will fully concentrate on whether each section of the trust is enforceable, and the effects that the 2006 will could have brought about towards the trust.…
Equity was introduced to act as an enhancement of common law, commonly known as the second great subdivision of English law. Equity’s foundation is a judicial assessment of justice in contrast to the sometimes harsh and inflexible rule of common law. Historically, common law was known as the law, in contrast with equity. Equity sets aside contracts in the event of a party gaining a benefit through undue influence which is when an agreement is obtained by indecent pressure which is not duress at common law since no factor of violence to the individual was involved" (GH Treitel, The Law of Contract).…