Equity (law)

In jurisdictions following the English common law system, equity refers to the body of law which was developed in the English Court of Chancery and which is now administered concurrently with the common law.

For much of its history, the English common law was principally developed and administered in the central royal courts: the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Exchequer. Equity was the name given to the law which was administered in the Court of Chancery. The Judicature Reforms in the 1870s effected a procedural fusion of the two bodies of law, ending their institutional separation. The reforms did not effect any substantive fusion, however. Judicial or academic reasoning which assumes the contrary amounts to a "fusion fallacy".

Jurisdictions which have inherited the common law system differ in their current treatment of equity. Over the course of the 20th century some common law systems began to place less emphasis on the historical or institutional origin of substantive legal rules. In England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Equity remains a distinct body of law with specialised practitioners. Modern equity includes, amongst other things:

The latter part of the 20th century saw increased debate over the utility of treating Equity as a separate body of law. These debates were labelled the "fusion wars". A particular flashpoint in this debate centred around the concept of unjust enrichment and whether areas of law traditionally regarded as equitable could be rationalised as part of a single body of law known as the law of unjust enrichment.

After the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, royal justice came to be administered in three central courts: the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Exchequer. The common law developed in these royal courts. To commence litigation in these royal courts, it was necessary to fit one's claim within a form of action. The plaintiff would purchase a writ in the Chancery, the head of which was the Lord Chancellor. Where the law provided no remedy (or no efficacious remedy), litigants could sometimes appeal directly to the King. Eventually, the King would delegate resolution of these petitions to the King's Council. These petitions were eventually delegated to the Lord Chancellor himself.

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