Common Law & Equity

Question 1

What was the goals after the Norman Conquest?

Answer 1

• Create a unified system of law
• Unify all local customs to one common throughout the whole country
• Creat a basic Court structure
• Emergence of the Writ System

Question 2

What did William I do?

Answer 2

• Set up Curia Regis (central administration)

* Appointed his own judges & sent them around the country

Question 3

What did Henry II do?

Answer 3

• Created circuits due to popularity of judges travelling the country.

Question 4

How did Common Law get its name?

Answer 4

• Judges discussing best local customs that they used on return to Westminster

Question 5

Name two courts that evolved from the Curia Regis as time progressed.

Answer 5

• Court of Exchequer (1200) which dealt with revenue disputes
• Court of Kings Bench, which was the only one to have criminal jurisdiction.

Question 6

What was the situation before the Norman Conquest?

Answer 6

• No unified system of law
• Country split into Shires & Hundreds
• Law based on local Customs
• Customs were administrated by Shire Courts

Question 7

Problems with the Writ System

Answer 7

• Caused much confusion and administration with Common Law
• Time Consuming
• Costly
• A lot of people couldn’t read or write and writs were drawn up in Latin
• No oral evidence could be given
• Only remedy was for damages

Question 8

Two cases that limited the issuing of writs.

Answer 8

Provisions of Oxford 1258

Statute of Westminster 1285

Question 9

What was the result of these two cases. (PoOx & SoW)

Answer 9

Limited the amount of writs issued, potential claimants receiving injustice as their action did not fit any current writs.
The wording had to be exact, if there were any mistakes, the claimant would lose - Pinnels Case 1602

Question 10

How did equity develop?

Answer 10

Due to the problems with common law, this gradually gave way to a parallel and complimentary system of rules & remedies devised in the Court of the Lord High Chancellor. These Rules were known as equity.

Question 11

Who would claimants issue if they received injustice & why?

Answer 11

Claimants would petition the King if they’d received injustice, in hope their problem would be resolved due to the King being the fountain of justice.

Question 12

Who was handed down the task of dealing with claimants and why?

Answer 12

Due to the volume of unhappy claimants dramatically growing, the job of dealing with these cases was handed down to the lord chancellor, who dealt with them in a far less formal manner, and tried to arrive at a fair & just solution.

Question 13

What new procedure to the Chancellor use to ensure decisions were fair?

Answer 13

He used Subpoenas, which ordered a witness to attend court or risk imprisonment. He also developed new remedies to ensure claimants were fully compensated.

Question 14

What were these new remedies that were created?

Answer 14

Injunctions, Specific Performance, rescission and rectification.

Question 15

What are the four maxims that equity operates on?

Answer 15

• He who comes to Equity must come with clean hands
• He who seeks equity must do equity
Chappel v Times Newspaper (1975)
• Delay defeats equity
• Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy

Question 16

Brief Summary of Equity Today & Tomorrow.

Answer 16

• Equitable remedies have had the greatest impact on the development of the law of property and contract, and remain important to these areas today.
• It has shown itself capable of adapting and expanding to meet new needs.
• Equitable Remedies remain discretionary to this day. (Meaning if C won his action, it is up to the court to decide whether to award a remedy).

Question 17

Different types of Remedies.

Answer 17

Injunctions
Equitable Estoppel
Specific Performance
Rescission
Rectification

Question 18

What is an Injunction?

Answer 18

An order to one of the parties in the case to do something (mandatory) or not to do something (prohibitory). Granted on a regular basis by civil courts and are used in different situations.

Question 19

Example of Injunction.

Answer 19

2001 James Bulger case, an injunction was granted to not reveal the new identities of the killers.

Question 20

Two Important Remedies created in 1970 under what Act?

Answer 20

• Civil Procedure Act 1997
• Anton Pillar order, which is a civil search warrant, which requires a person to admit another party into their premises for the purpose of preserving evidence.
• Mareva Order, executed on bank account to prevent a person removing funds from the jurisdiction of the court.

Question 21

What is a Super Injunction?

Answer 21

These are becoming increasingly popular, and are issued by the civil courts from what they see as the right to privacy from the press.

Question 22

What is Equitable Estoppel?

Answer 22

In the case of Central London Properties Trust Ltd v High Trees house, Lord Denning created Equitable Estoppel. In this case, C allowed D to pay half rent during the war, at the end of the war, C sued D claiming full rent, Denning concluded C was entitled to full rent after the war but not during. Having to agreed to take half rent, C was estopped from talking full amount as it was not equitable.

Question 23

What is Specific Performance?

Answer 23

Specific Performance, is an order in contract, telling a party to complete what he/she was contracted to do. It is only granted in exceptional circumstances where the court feel the remedy of damages from common law is not enough to compensate.
• Behnke v Bede (1927) the claimant contracted to buy a ship from the defendant, the defendant did not deliver, so the claimant sued the defendant for breach of contract and was awarded specific performance due to there being only one similar ship in the world.

Question 24

What is Rescission?

Answer 24

Another remedy in contract cases that aims to return both parties as far as possible to their pre-contractual agreement.

Question 25

What is Rectification?

Answer 25

Under this, the court will order that where there has been a mistake in a document, it shall be altered to reflect the parties intentions.