Equity XII

Despite the merits of having a dual court system, i.e. an additional or a higher court, where a genuinely aggrieved litigant could have his or her concerns addressed, it nonetheless did create a certain amount of confusion. The law as far as possible has to be transparent and every citizen, where possible, should be aware of his or her rights, and should a matter go to trial, the litigants should be able to some degree predict the outcome.

To remedy the shortcomings of the dual system and to create some form of uniformity, parliament passed the Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875.

Under the 1873 Act the old higher courts were abolished and a new Supreme Court of Judicature was created consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. The High Court was divided into five specialist divisional courts based on the old central courts (King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, and Chancery), with the addition of the new Probate, Divorce and Admiralty division. Equity was administered by the Court of Chancery and any litigant seeking an equitable remedy post the implementation of the 1873 and 1875 acts could bring his or her claim before the Chancery Division of the High Court.

Copyright © 2019 by Dyarne Jessica Ward