Vocabulary notes:

common law	загальне право
suitor	позивач
relief	допомога
Chancellor	Лорд Канцлер
summon before a judge	викликати до суду
Court of Chancery	суд справедливості
petition	прохання, клопотання
branch of equity	гілка права справедливості
overawe/ intimidate	Примушувати до покори, залякувати
equitable remedy	засіб судового захисту по праву справедливості
equitable rules	безсторонні (неупереджені) правила
specific performance	реальне виконання прийнятого зобов’язання
injunction	судова заборона, заборонна норма
common law action	дії на основі норм загального права
Supreme Court of Judicature	Верховний суд Англії
friction	суперечка
court verdicts	судові рішення, постанови судді
to fail to give redress	не спромогтися надати відшкодування
to petition smb.	подавати прохання, клопотання, петицію, позикову заяву до суду
to harden into law	закріпити законом
rectification	виправлення помилок, внесення поправок
at smb.discretion	на чийсь розсуд
rescission	скасування, ліквідація
to administer law	провадити в життя закони
to obtain fairness	досягти законності
to govern the application of equity	контролювати застосування норм права справедливості
to overrule a precedent / to reject a precedent	відхиляти прецедент

EQUITY

In a general sense equity means fairness. In English law, equity means that body of rules originally enforced only by the Court of Chancery. Equity has been described as “a gloss (meaning a supplement) on the common law”, filling in the gaps and making the English legal system more complete.

Petitions from persons unable to obtain justice in the common law courts were sent to the King as “fountain of justice”. These petitions were sometimes examined by the King and Council and the relief was granted or refused. Later, due to pressure of business in the Council, the petitions were sent to the Lord Chancellor who, as Chief Secretary of State and “Keeper of the King’s Conscience”, dealt with them alone. The petitions were usually in the form of allegations that:

1. The common law was defective, e.g. the law of contract was undeveloped and inadequate to serve the growing needs of suitors.

2. The remedy of the common law courts, namely damages, was not always a satisfactory relief.

3. The defendant was too powerful; people of wealth and power in a county could overawe a court and intimidate jurors.

4. The court lacked jurisdiction to decide certain cases, e.g. where foreign merchants were suitors.

By the end of the fifteenth century the Chancellor had set up a separate court which dealt with petitions for relief. The Chancellor was not bound by the writ system or the technical and formal rules of the common law, and considered petitions on the basis of conscience and right.

At first the Chancellor used to consult the Council and sometimes the common law judges, but eventually it became customary to summon the parties to the dispute to appear before the Chancellor alone to answer “interrogatories” (specific questions relevant to the issue) and to unburden their consciences so that the truth could be ascertained and justice done.

The Court of Chancery proved popular with litigants and this caused friction with the common law courts. Jurisdiction was lost to the Chancery Court. Sometimes the courts of common law and the Chancery Court issued contradictory verdicts, and relations between the courts became difficult. The dispute came to a head under James I (1603-25) in the Earl of Oxford’s case (1616). The common law courts, headed by Chief Justice Coke, gave a judgment which was alleged to have been obtained by fraud. The Chancellor, Lord Ellesmere, issued an injunction preventing the successful party from proceeding to enforce the judgment, whereupon the dispute was referred to the King for decision. The King sought the views of Sir Francis Bacon (Attorney-General) who advised that where common law and equity conflicted, equity should prevail. Although competition between the courts of common law and equity continued, the right of the Chancellor to grant injunctions thereafter was not seriously challenged. Matters were finally resolved by the passing of the Judicature Acts, 1873-5.

These Acts set up a new structure of courts known as the Supreme Court of Judicature. In addition the Acts laid down four important principles:

1. Equity and common law should in future be administered side by side in all courts.

2. Where there is a conflict between a rule of equity and a rule of common law with reference to the same matter, the rule of equity should prevail.

3. Evidence could be given in court orally.

4. Rules of the Supreme Court of Judicature were to be formulated with regard to procedural matters.

The final result of the Acts was the fusion of administration of both common law and equity. Certain matters, e.g. trusts, originally dealt with by the Court of Chancery were assigned with other matters to the Chancery Division of the High Court. All courts could henceforward award common-law remedies, e.g. damages, and grant the special equitable remedies of which the following are the most important:

1. Injunction, an order of the court in the form of a decree compelling the defendant in a case to cease from doing certain acts.

2. Specific Performance of contracts where the common law remedy of damages is inadequate to compensate the plaintiff.

3. Rescission of Contracts.

4. Rectification.

5. Relief against Penalties, Fraud, and Undue Influence.

These remedies are at the discretion of the court unlike the common law remedy of damages which is “of right”. The discretion is exercised on equitable principles, e.g. “He who comes to equity must come with clean hands”.

Task 2. Match the following words & expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents.

I.

court of common law	судова заборона
rescission	міри покарання за правом справедливості
overawe	засіб судового захисту
equitable remedies	Акт про судоустрій
injunction	ліквідація, відміна
equitable rules
relief	норми звичаєвого права
the Court of Chancery	примушувати до покори, залякувати
	суд звичаєвого права
rules of common law	норми права справедливості
Judicature Act	канцлерський суд

II.

to obtain justice	створити Верховний суд
to set up a special court	займатися, мати справу
to cause friction	дістати правосуддя
to deal with	створити спеціальний суд
to prevail	спричинити суперечку
to petition smb.	виправлення помилок, внесення поправок
to summon the parties	застосовувати норми права справедливості
rectification	подавати прохання до когось
to establish the Supreme Court	переважати
administer equity	викликати сторони

Task 3. Find in the text the words that correspond to the following definitions & translate them into Ukrainian.

1. to order to come; send for, esp to attend court, by issuing a summons

2. body of law developed by the Court of Chancery;

3. an instruction or order issued by a court to a party to an action, esp to refrain from some act, such as causing a nuisance;

4. someone involved in a lawsuit;

5. a formal application in writing made to a court asking for some specific judicial action;

6. redress of a grievance or hardship;

7. to prove to be guiltless or blameless;

8. to annul or repeal,to put an end to, as laws, customs, or conditions of existence.

Task 4. Use the information given in the text to answer the questions. Discuss your answers with the group.

1. Why was the Court of Chancery set up?

2. What did the petitions deal with?

3. What are equitable remedies?

4. Which rules prevail in case of conflict between rules of law and equity?

5. What principles were laid down after the Judicature Act 1873?

6. What was the result of the Judicature Act 1873?

7. Do the rules of equity remain different from the rules of common law?

Task 5. Give the English equivalents of the following sentences.

1. В середні віки суди звичаєвого права були неспроможні надавати відшкодування в тих справах, що потребували цього; позивачі звертались (подавали прохання) до короля, який вважався “сувереном правосуддя”, за додатковим засобом судового захисту.

2. Король через канцлера, фактично, створив спеціальний суд, канцлерський суд, який займався цими проханнями.

3. У разі розбіжності між нормами звичаєвого права та права справедливості, право справедливості переважає.

4. Таким чином, принципи звичаєвого права теоретично залишились незмінними, але вони витіснялися нормами права справедливості у всіх випадках “розбіжності”.

5. Така система діяла до 1875 року, коли в результаті Акту (Закону) про судоустрій 1873 року старі суди звичаєвого права та канцлерський суд були ліквідовані, а замість них був створений єдиний Верховний суд, кожна гілка якого мала всі повноваження застосувати норми як звичаєвого права, так і права справедливості.

6. Суди розробили систему правових норм, щоб контролювати застосування норм права справедливості.

7. Право справедливості базується на законі

8. Позивач повинен мати «чисті руки».

Task 6. Read the text & pick out the main points about equity.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EQUITY

The word "equity" means fair or just in its wider sense, but its legal meaning is the rules developed to mitigate the severity of the common law.

Petitioning the King

Disappointed litigants began to petition the King as the "Fountain of Justice", the procedure being to present a petition (or bill) asking him to do justice in respect of some complaint. For a time the King in Council determined these petitions himself, but as the work increased he passed them to the Chancellor as the "Keeper of the King's Conscience".

The Chancellor was usually a clergyman, generally a bishop, and learned in the civil and canon law. The King, through his Chancellor, eventually set up a special court, the Court of Chancery, to deal with these petitions. The Chancellor supervised the Chancery where clerks (who originally worked behind a wooden screen - cancelleria - hence Chancery) issued writs, commissions and other legal documents.

The Chancellor dealt with these petitions on the basis of what was morally right. The Chancellor would give or withold relief, not according to any precedent, but according to the effect produced upon his own individual sense of right and wrong by the merits of the particular case before him.

In 1474 the Chancellor issued the first decree in his own name, which began the independence of the Court of Chancery from the King's Council.

New Procedures

Equity was not bound by the writ system and cases were heard in English instead of Latin. The Chancellor did not use juries and he concerned himself with questions of fact. He could order a party to disclose documents. The Chancellor issued subpoenas compelling the attendance of the defendant or witnesses whom he could examine on oath.

New Rights

Equity created new rights by recognising trusts and giving beneficiaries rights against trustees. (A trust arises if one party gives property to trustees to hold for the use of beneficiaries.) The common law did not recognise such a device and regarded the trustees as owners.

Equity also developed the equity of redemption. At common law, under a mortgage, if the mortgagor had not repaid the loan once the legal redemption date had passed, he would lose the property but remain liable to repay the loan. Equity allowed him to keep the property if he repaid the loan with interest. This right to redeem the property is known as the equity of redemption.

New Remedies

Equity created new remedies:

(a) Specific performance, which is an order telling a party to perform their part of a contract. This was useful where damages were not adequate, eg, in the sale of land. Thus if the seller refused to sell after signing a contract, the buyer could obtain an order of specific performance making the seller sell the house.

(b) Rectification, which allowed a written document to be changed if it did not represent the actual agreement made by the parties.

(c) Rescission, which allowed parties to a contract to be put back in their original position in the case of a contract induced by a misrepresentation.

(d) Injunctions, usually an order to stop a person doing a particular act, like acting in breach of contract (a prohibitory injunction).

Task 7. Discuss your ideas in pairs & then exchange opinions with the whole group.

1. Does your legal system contain rules of equity?

2. Was equity developed because in many situations there was no legal remedy available at common law?

3. Do the rules of equity remain different from the rules of common law?

You have seen that in England equity and common law are two separate bodies of legal principles, which are now administered by the same courts. What is your opinion of this system?

Task 8. Read the text consulting a dictionary where necessary & pick out the main points about the sources of law in Great Britain.