Over to youDiscuss this problem. Thedefinition of common law contrasts the body of law developed by the common-law courts and statute law, with Equity - the body of law originally formulated and developed by the Lord Chancellor and the Court of Chancery. Equity is a complex area of English law, mainly concerned with the law of property. The purpose of Equity was to add to or supplement common-law rules in cases where these were too rigid to give justice. These two parallel systems of justice exist side by side in English law and since 1873 they have been administered by the same courts. The following example will show the different effect of common law and Equity in an actual case: Suppose that Smith and Jones form a contract in which Smith agrees to sell Jones a certain piece of land. Smith later changes his mind and breaks the contract. At common law the court will order Smith to pay Jones money as compensation for the land he has lost. In Equity the court has discretion to order Smith to perform his part of the contract (to transfer the piece of land to Jones) if this is fair in the circumstances.
What is the difference between the result given by Equity and common law in the example?
Text D Sources of American Law American law, strongly influenced by its English background, has four England, the British Commonwealth, and the United States follow the common law. Whereas Civil Law attempts to state the whole law in a comprehensive code, the common law is found in the collected cases of the various courts of law. American common law began with the common law of England. It includes the English common law and all subsequent legal developments, including the principle of stare decisis. Common law codes should not be confused with Civil Law codes. In the common law, a code is a collection of statutes passed by a legislature; a civil law code is intended as a full and comprehensive statement of the whole law. Equity began as an independent legal system based on concepts of fair play. It covers injunctive relief, specific performance of contract, and certain contract revisions, as well as parts of family law. Many of the principles and maxims of equity have been merged into the common law. There is no jury trial in an equity case.
Constitutions and Statutes. In contrast to these two forms of judge-made law – common law and equity – are two varieties of "legislative" law—constitutions and statutes. Judge-made law is inductive; on the basis of a number of individual decisions a general rule is constructed. Legislative law is deductive; a general principle is stated by a constitutional convention or a legislature and then is given meaning as it is applied in deciding a series of individual controversies. The special problems of constitutions as sources of law have already been noted. Constitutions tend to state very general principles and they are hard to amend, so they require or permit great latitude in interpretation. Statutes are typically more limited in their scope and language; they aim to solve particular problems or lay down rules covering defined situations. Nevertheless, statutes also require interpretation when they are applied. During the past century, judge-made law proved increasingly unable to deal with the problems of an industrialized society. Legislatures responded to the challenge with an enormous output of regulatory and social-welfare legislation. Just as the common-law courts initially resisted the rise of equity, so judges in the United States initially resented statute law replacing the standards of the common law, and they restricted the impact of the new legislation by narrow and hostile interpretation. But this was a tactic that could not long prevail. Today, statutes are by far the most substantial source of the law that American courts apply.
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