A definition of equity - 'Equity is the application of the law based on fairness rather than rigid application of strict legal rules'
Equity has been an extremely important source in the development of our legal system. Even today it stills plays a part with many modern legal concepts having been developed from equitable principles. Equity means fairness and this is the way in which it adds and amends our law. The early common law became very rigid and only certain types of cases were recognised by the courts. The common law was very complicated and individuals bringing a case would often find their claim would fail on the basis of an error in the formalities. Another major problem with the common law was the only remedy available was damages (the payment of a sum of money), which wasn't always an appropriate remedy for the plaintiff (the person bringing the claim - now called the claimant).
Under these condition people were unable to obtain justice under the common law so they appealed to the king. The king would refer these cases to his Chancellor who would make a decision on the basis of natural justice nad fairness - making decisions on a case by case basis on what seemed right in the particular circumstances rather than on the basis of strict legal precedents and rules.
The Chancellor developed new remedies such as injunctions (an order to stop someone from doing something) and specific performance (an order to compel someone to do something), these remedies are still used in our legal system today - more information on them can be found here. Eventually a Court of Chancery came into being which operated under these rules of fairness or equity. Equity was not a system of law in its own right it merely filled the gaps left by the common law.
Conflicts between equity and the common law
At first the systems of common law and equity operated separately and this led to conflicts between them. One of the main difficulties was that the common law courts would make a decision in favour of one party and the Court of Chancery would make a decision in favour of the other! This problem was finally settled in the Earl of Oxford's case (1615) when the king ruled that equity should prevail, or put another way the decision made in the Chancery court was the one that must be accepted and followed by the parties.
The operation of equity
There were few guidelines for the Chancellor to follow initially, over time a series of maxims were developed which formed the basis on which the sytem of equity operated. Today the doctrine of judicial precedent (click here for more on judicial precedent) applies to cases involving equity just as much as it applies to cases involving the common law.
Some Equitable Maxims
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Equity looks to the intention and not the form
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He who comes to equity must come with clean hands
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Equity does not require an idle gesture
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Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy
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Equity will not allow a trust to fail for want of a trustee
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Delay defeats equity
The operation and expansion of equity today
Equitable rights, interests and remedies remain important in our legal system today. New equitable remedies were developed by our courts during the last century such as the freezing order (originally known as a Mareva Injunction) and the search order (original known as an Anton Piller Order). The most well known equitable remedy is the injunction which is often used in domestic violence cases as a way of protecting an abused partner or may be used to stop protesters trespassing on land. One recent controversial use of injunctions has been to prevent trade unions from taking industrial action, as happened in 2009 with the British Airways cabin crew dispute - to read more about this case click here
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