Bret Walker SC
speaker
138 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 9 Jun
Bret Walker SC’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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I daren't venture on your description in case I either endorse it or contradict it.
So we'll leave it there.
Well, all exact answers will not be particularly explanatory.
So let me try a general one.
It's the name given.
Ultimately, it derives from medieval and canon or ecclesiastical connections with the court, which is the source of all law, obviously.
But for now many centuries, mid 19th century when Bleak House was published,
It was a series of courts, a centre of courts, who administered a body of doctrine different from the common law, although very similar by reference to the fact that the judges will tell you what it was.
The simplest example I can think of that is still true to divide equity administered by the Chancery Courts and the common law administered by King's Bench, etc.,
is to think of a contract for the sale of land.
The contract exists because of the common law.
It gives that status to promises made for value.
And if you breach the contract, the common law courts can give you their one and only remedy, which will be damages, money to make up for the loss of not having either sold your land or bought your land, depending upon what side of the transaction you're on.
But Chancery will say, no, no, no, we're going to go further than the Commons laws granting of monetary compensation.
We will require somebody on pain of contempt of court, which could produce imprisonment, of course, specifically to perform.
That is that you must actually do what you've promised to do.
There are other examples, again, in contract law, by and large, if I promise not to do something and you're the person to whom I promised that, if I start to do it, all you can do is sue me in damages at common law.
But equity will say, no, you've promised not to do something and equity will require you to make good on that.
Now, as a piece of self-justifying propaganda, still we're taught at law schools
that the characterising feature of equity administered by the Chancery Courts is conscience.
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