Court of Chancery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term chancery can also refer to:

the office building in which an ambassador houses his diplomatic mission, or
the administrative offices of a diocese.

Court of Chancery, London, early 19th century

The Court of Chancery was one of the courts of equity in England and Wales. The High Court of Chancery was the court that developed from the Lord Chancellor's jurisdiction. Unlike the courts of law, which were rigidly based on formal causes of action, the Lord Chancellor had jurisdiction to determine cases, on behalf of the King, according to equity or fairness rather than according to the strict letter of the law. Gradually the rules of equity became formalized, but they preserve important innovations, such as mandatory orders and injunctions, investment trusts, etc. See equity. Records of the court are kept by The National Archives.

The High Court of Chancery was merged with the courts of law in 1873, and the judges given the power to administer law and equity.

[edit] Chancery courts in other common law jurisdictions

Most other common law jurisdictions either (1) abolished chancery courts and merged the powers of the courts of equity with the courts of law, thus making it possible for one to seek equitable relief at the same time as legal relief or (2) made the equitable jurisdiction the responsibility of a separate chancery division of the court of general jurisdiction. However, three American states (Delaware, Mississippi, and Tennessee), have retained separate Courts of Chancery. Judges who sit on these courts are called Chancellors.

One important distinction between these courts (at least in the United States, where juries still commonly hear civil cases) is that generally a jury trial is not possible in equitable actions (whether in a merged court or a court of equity) as only a judge can dispense equity; a jury, while it can answer questions of fact, has no power to answer questions that involve interpretation of the law.

In Charles Dickens's novel Bleak House, the interminable chancery case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce is a major element of the plot.

In Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, one verse of the rhyme quoted throughout the book is "Five little Indian boys going in for law, one got in Chancery and then there were four".

"Pretty young maids in Chancery" also appears in the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Iolanthe, with reference to the "Highly susceptible Chancellor".