Equity XIII

Following the passing of the Judicature Acts of 1873 – 1875, cases were decided by a single court system, on the basis that in case of conflict between common law and equity, equity will prevail.

Since the inception of equity, as an adjudicating mechanism, a series of rules had evolved to facilitate its workings and to help others, especially litigants, understand its more salient features. These rules became known as equitable maxims and below are some of the more commonly known equitable maxims: -

1) Equity varies with the length of the Lord Chancellor's foot. This maxim simply means that equity does not operate on a system of binding precedent and a court of equity does not decide like cases in like manner but rather decides each case on its facts, keeping in mind or taking into account what is fair and just. Therefore, there is always the possibility with regards to equitable decisions, that even if the facts were the same in two cases, the decision might be different.

Copyright © 2019 by Dyarne Jessica Ward