The ‘Fusion Fallacy’: Equity and Common Law
QUESTION
- Before the Judicature System: the Need for Reform
- Dissatisfaction with Chancery and with the dual court system
Bleak House
- Why reform was needed.
- Coroneo v Australian Provincial Assurance Asn Ltd (1935) 35 SR (NSW) 391.
- Castlereagh Motels v Davies-Roe [1966] 2 NSWLR 79.
The Judicature System
- What is undue influence? When is influence undue?
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- Definition
- Burden of Proof
- Two types of undue influence: actual undue influence and presumed undue influence.
SAMPLE SOLUTION
The two major forms of law that are used in the determination of disputes in the Australian jurisdiction are equity and common law. In equity, judicial decisions are made based on the assessment of fairness. The aim is to arrive on a fair determination. Essentially, it can be argued that equity does not focus on procedural technicalities, but rather on the substantial issue at hand. Common law, on the other hand, is a regime of law wherein judicial decisions are arrived at based on custom and judicial precedent with respect to the particular matter at hand. For a long time, there has been an outstanding debate regarding the fusion of common law and equity. The debate has been bordering around whether the two regimes of law can be fused or whether attempts at fusion are merely a fallacy since the two regimes are distinctive.[1] The concept of fusion is not a fallacy and equity and common law should indeed be fused, especially in instances when strict adherence to procedural technicalities would lead to an injustice.
For a long time in the common law jurisprudence, equity and common law were practiced in separate courts within the judiciary. However, the Judicature Act of 1873-1875 made provision for the creation of the Supreme Court of justice which was granted the jurisdiction of hearing both common law and equity matters.[2] This is arguably the point when the fusion or no fusion controversy began. The argument for many scholars currently is that common law and equity have not yet fused but they have gradually been working together.[3]
Sample Solutions
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