| slovo | definícia |
chancery
(encz) | chancery,archiv n: Rostislav Svoboda |
chancery
(encz) | chancery,kancléřství n: Zdeněk Brož |
chancery
(encz) | Chancery,Kancléřský soud n: jedno z oddělení britského Nejvyššího
soudu Rostislav Svoboda |
Chancery
(gcide) | Chancery \Chan"cer*y\, n. [F. chancellerie, LL. cancellaria,
from L. cancellarius. See Chancellor, and cf.
Chancellery.]
1. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next
to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but
chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873
it became the chancery division of the High Court of
Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
[1913 Webster]
2. In the Unites States, a court of equity; equity;
proceeding in equity.
[1913 Webster]
Note: A court of chancery, so far as it is a court of equity,
in the English and American sense, may be generally, if
not precisely, described as one having jurisdiction in
cases of rights, recognized and protected by the
municipal jurisprudence, where a plain, adequate, and
complete remedy can not be had in the courts of common
law. In some of the American States, jurisdiction at
law and in equity centers in the same tribunal. The
courts of the United States also have jurisdiction both
at law and in equity, and in all such cases they
exercise their jurisdiction, as courts of law, or as
courts of equity, as the subject of adjudication may
require. In others of the American States, the courts
that administer equity are distinct tribunals, having
their appropriate judicial officers, and it is to the
latter that the appellation courts of chancery is
usually applied; but, in American law, the terms equity
and court of equity are more frequently employed than
the corresponding terms chancery and court of chancery.
--Burrill.
[1913 Webster]
Inns of chancery. See under Inn.
To get (or to hold) In chancery (Boxing), to get the head
of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel
it with the other fist at will; hence, to have wholly in
One's power. The allusion is to the condition of a person
involved in the chancery court, where he was helpless,
while the lawyers lived upon his estate.
[1913 Webster] |
chancery
(wn) | chancery
n 1: a court with jurisdiction in equity [syn: chancery,
court of chancery]
2: an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records; a
court of public records |
CHANCERY
(bouvier) | CHANCERY. The name of a court exercising jurisdiction at law, but mainly in
equity.
2. It is not easy to determine how courts of equity originally obtained
the jurisdiction they now exercise. Their authority, and the extent of it,
have been subjects of much question, but time has firmly established them;
and the limits of their jurisdiction seem to be in a great degree fixed and
ascertained. 1 Story on Eq. ch. 2; Mitf. Pl. Introd.; Coop. Eq. Pl. Introd.
See also Butler's Reminiscences, 38, 40; 3 Bl. Com. 435; 2 Bin. 135; 4 Bin.
50; 6 Bin. 162; 2 Serg. & R. 356; 9 Serg. & R. 315; for the necessity,
origin and use of courts of chancery.
3. The judge of the court of chancery, often called a court of equity,
bears the title of chancellor. The equity jurisdiction, in England, is
vested, principally, in the high court of chancery. This court is distinct
from courts of law. "American courts of equity are, in some instances,
distinct from those of law, in others, the same tribunals exercise the
jurisdiction both of courts of law and equity, though their forms of
proceeding are different in their two capacities. The supreme court of the
United States, and the circuit courts, are invested with general equity
powers, and act either as court's of law or equity, according to the form of
the process and the subject of adjudication. In some of the states, as New
York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal,
having its appropriate judge, or chancellor, and officers. In most of the
states, the two jurisdictions centre in the same judicial officers, as in
the courts of the United States; and the extent of equity jurisdiction and
proceedings is very various in the different states, being very ample in
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina,
and more restricted in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.
But the salutary influence of these powers on the judicial administration
generally, by the adaptation of chancery forms and modes of proceeding to
many cases in which a court of law affords but an imperfect remedy, or no
remedy at all, is producing a gradual extension of them in those states
where they have been, heretofore, very limited."
4. The jurisdiction of a court of equity differs essentially from that
of a court of law. The remedies for wrongs, or for the enforcement of
rights, may be distinguished into two classes those which are administered
in courts of law, and those which are administered in courts of equity. The
rights secured by the former are called legal; those secured by the latter
are called equitable. The former are said to be rights and remedies at
common law, because recognized and enforced in courts of common law. The
latter are said to be rights and remedies in equity, because they are
administered in courts of equity or chancery, or by proceedings in other
courts analogous to those in courts of equity or chancery. Now, in England
and America, courts of common law proceed by certain prescribed forms, and
give a general judgment for or against the defendant. They entertain
jurisdiction only in certain actions, and give remedies according to the
particular exigency of such actions. But there are many cases in which a
simple judgment for either party, without qualifications and conditions, and
particular arrangements, will not. do entire justice, ex aequo et bono, to
either party. Some modification of the rights of both parties is required;
some restraints on one side or the other; and some peculiar adjustments,
either present or future, temporary or perpetual. Now, in all these cases,
courts of common law have no methods of proceeding, which can accomplish
such objects. Their forms of actions and judgment are not adapted to them.
The proper remedy cannot be found, or cannot be administered to the full
extent of the relative rights of all parties. Such prescribed forms of
actions are not confined to our law. They were known in the civil law; and
the party could apply them only to their original purposes. In other cases,
he had a special remedy. In such cases, where the courts of common law
cannot grant the proper remedy or relief, the law of England and of the
United States (in those states where equity is administered) authorizes an
application to the courts of equity or chancery, which are not confined or
limited in their modes of relief by such narrow regulations, but which grant
relief to all parties, in cases where they have rights, ex aequo et bono,
and modify and fashion that relief according to circumstances. The most
general description of a court of equity is, that it has jurisdiction in
cases where a plain, adequate and complete remedy cannot be had at law that
is, in common law courts. The remedy must be plain; for, if it be doubtful
and obscure at law, equity will assert a jurisdiction. So it must be
adequate at law; for, if it fall short of what the party is entitled to,
that founds a jurisdiction in equity. And it must be complete; that is, it
must attain its full end at law it must reach the whole mischief and secure
the whole right of the party, now and for the future otherwise equity will
interpose, and give relief. The jurisdiction of a court of equity is
sometimes concurrent with that of courts of, law and sometimes it is
exclusive. It exercises concurrent jurisdiction in cases where the rights
are purely of a legal nature, but where other and more efficient aid is
required than a court of law can afford, to meet the difficulties of the
case, and ensure full redress. In some of these cases courts of law formerly
refused all redress but now will grant it. But the jurisdiction having been
once justly acquired at a time when there was no such redress at law, it is
not now relinquished. The most common exercise of concurrent jurisdiction is
in cases of account, accident, dower, fraud, mistake, partnership, and
partition. The remedy is here often more complete and effectual than it can
be at law. In many cases falling under these heads, and especially in some
cases of fraud, mistake and accident, courts of law cannot and do not afford
any redress; in others they do, but not always in so perfect a manner. A
court of equity also is assistant to the jurisdiction of courts of law, in
many cases, where the latter have no like authority. It will remove legal
impediments to the fair decision of a question depending at law. It will
prevent a party from improperly setting up, at a trial, some title or claim,
which would be inequitable. It will compel him to discover, on his own oath,
facts which he knows are material to the rights of the other party, but
which a court of law cannot compel the party to discover. It will perpetuate
the testimony of witnesses to rights and titles, which are in danger of being
lost, before the, matter can be tried. It will provide for the safety of
property in dispute pending litigation. It will counteract and control, or
set aside, fraudulent judgments. It will exercise, in many cases, an
exclusive jurisdiction. This it does in all cases of morely equitable
rights, that is, such rights as are not recognized in courts of law. Most
cases of trust and confidence fall under this head. Its exclusive
jurisdiction is also extensively exercised in granting special relief beyond
the reach of the common law. It will grant injunctions to prevent waste, or
irreparable injury, or to secure a settled right, or to prevent vexatious
litigations, or to compel the restitution of title deeds; it will appoint
receivers of property, where it is in danger of misapplication it will
compel the surrender of securities improperly obtained; it will prohibit a
party from leaving the country in order to avoid a suit it will restrain any
undue exercise of a legal right, against conscience and equity; it will
decree a specific performance of contracts respecting real estates; it will,
in many cases, supply the imperfect execution of instruments, and reform and
alter them according to the real intention of the parties; it will grant
relief in cases of lost deeds or securities; and, in all cases in which its
interference is asked, its general rule is, that he who asks equity must do
equity. If a party, therefore, should ask to have a bond for a usurious debt
given up, equity could not decree it, unless he could bring into court the
money honestly due without usury. This is a very general and imperfect
outline of the jurisdiction of a court of equity; in respect to which it has
been justly remarked, that, in matters within its exclusive jurisdiction,
where substantial justice entitles the party to relief, but the positive law
is silent, it is impossible to define the boundaries of that jurisdiction,
or to enumerate, with precision, its various principles." Ency. Am. art.
Equity. Vide Fonb. Eq.; Story on Eq.; Madd. Ch. Pr.; 10 Amer. Jur. 227;
Coop. Eq. Pl.; Redesd. Pl.; Newl. Cb. Practice; Beame's Pl. Eq.; Jeremy on
Eq.; Encycl. Amer. article Equity, Court.
|
| | podobné slovo | definícia |
chancery
(encz) | chancery,archiv n: Rostislav Svobodachancery,kancléřství n: Zdeněk BrožChancery,Kancléřský soud n: jedno z oddělení britského Nejvyššího
soudu Rostislav Svoboda |
court of chancery
(encz) | court of chancery, n: |
Court of Chancery
(gcide) | Court \Court\ (k[=o]rt), n. [OF. court, curt, cort, F. cour, LL.
cortis, fr. L. cohors, cors, chors, gen. cohortis, cortis,
chortis, an inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng;
co- + a root akin to Gr. chorto`s inclosure, feeding place,
and to E. garden, yard, orchard. See Yard, and cf.
Cohort, Curtain.]
1. An inclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in
by the walls of a building, or by different building;
also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded
by houses; a blind alley.
[1913 Webster]
The courts of the house of our God. --Ps. cxxxv.
2.
[1913 Webster]
And round the cool green courts there ran a row
Of cloisters. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other
dignitary; a palace.
[1913 Webster]
Attends the emperor in his royal court. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
This our court, infected with their manners,
Shows like a riotous inn. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a
sovereign or person high in authority; all the
surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.
[1913 Webster]
My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door
would speak with you. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove. --Sir. W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
4. Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as,
to hold a court.
[1913 Webster]
The princesses held their court within the fortress.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or
address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners;
civility; compliment; flattery.
[1913 Webster]
No solace could her paramour intreat
Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
I went to make my court to the Duke and Duchess of
Newcastle. --Evelyn.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Law)
(a) The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is
administered.
(b) The persons officially assembled under authority of
law, at the appropriate time and place, for the
administration of justice; an official assembly,
legally met together for the transaction of judicial
business; a judge or judges sitting for the hearing or
trial of causes.
(c) A tribunal established for the administration of
justice.
(d) The judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel
or jury, or both.
[1913 Webster]
Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
7. The session of a judicial assembly.
[1913 Webster]
8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
[1913 Webster]
9. A place arranged for playing the game of tennis; also, one
of the divisions of a tennis court.
[1913 Webster]
Christian court, the English ecclesiastical courts in the
aggregate, or any one of them.
Court breeding, education acquired at court.
Court card. Same as Coat card.
Court circular, one or more paragraphs of news respecting
the sovereign and the royal family, together with the
proceedings or movements of the court generally, supplied
to the newspapers by an officer specially charged with
such duty. [Eng.] --Edwards.
Court of claims (Law), a court for settling claims against
a state or government; specif., a court of the United
States, created by act of Congress, and holding its
sessions at Washington. It is given jurisdiction over
claims on contracts against the government, and sometimes
may advise the government as to its liabilities. [Webster
1913 Suppl.]
Court day, a day on which a court sits to administer
justice.
Court dress, the dress prescribed for appearance at the
court of a sovereign.
Court fool, a buffoon or jester, formerly kept by princes
and nobles for their amusement.
Court guide, a directory of the names and adresses of the
nobility and gentry in a town.
Court hand, the hand or manner of writing used in records
and judicial proceedings. --Shak.
Court lands (Eng. Law), lands kept in demesne, -- that is,
for the use of the lord and his family.
Court marshal, one who acts as marshal for a court.
Court party, a party attached to the court.
Court rolls, the records of a court. SeeRoll.
Court in banc, or Court in bank, The full court sitting
at its regular terms for the hearing of arguments upon
questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at nisi
prius.
Court of Arches, audience, etc. See under Arches,
Audience, etc.
Court of Chancery. See Chancery, n.
Court of Common pleas. (Law) See Common pleas, under
Common.
Court of Equity. See under Equity, and Chancery.
Court of Inquiry (Mil.), a court appointed to inquire into
and report on some military matter, as the conduct of an
officer.
Court of St. James, the usual designation of the British
Court; -- so called from the old palace of St. James,
which is used for the royal receptions, levees, and
drawing-rooms.
The court of the Lord, the temple at Jerusalem; hence, a
church, or Christian house of worship.
General Court, the legislature of a State; -- so called
from having had, in the colonial days, judicial power; as,
the General Court of Massachusetts. [U.S.]
To pay one's court, to seek to gain favor by attentions.
"Alcibiades was assiduous in paying his court to
Tissaphernes." --Jowett.
To put out of court, to refuse further judicial hearing.
[1913 Webster] |
Inns of chancery
(gcide) | Inn \Inn\ ([i^]n), n. [AS. in, inn, house, chamber, inn, from
AS. in in; akin to Icel. inni house. See In.]
1. A place of shelter; hence, dwelling; habitation;
residence; abode. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Therefore with me ye may take up your inn
For this same night. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. A house for the lodging and entertainment of travelers or
wayfarers; a tavern; a public house; a hotel.
[1913 Webster]
Note: As distinguished from a private boarding house, an inn
is a house for the entertainment of all travelers of
good conduct and means of payment, as guests for a
brief period, not as lodgers or boarders by contract.
[1913 Webster]
The miserable fare and miserable lodgment of a
provincial inn. --W. Irving.
[1913 Webster]
3. The town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person;
as, Leicester Inn. [Eng.]
[1913 Webster]
4. One of the colleges (societies or buildings) in London,
for students of the law barristers; as, the Inns of Court;
the Inns of Chancery; Serjeants' Inns.
[1913 Webster]
Inns of chancery (Eng.), colleges in which young students
formerly began their law studies, now occupied chiefly bp
attorn`ys, solocitors, etc.
Inns of court (Eng.), the four societies of "students and
practicers of the law of England" which in London exercise
the exclusive right of admitting persons to practice at
the bar; also, the buildings in which the law students and
barristers have their chambers. They are the Inner Temple,
the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn.
[1913 Webster]Chancery \Chan"cer*y\, n. [F. chancellerie, LL. cancellaria,
from L. cancellarius. See Chancellor, and cf.
Chancellery.]
1. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next
to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but
chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873
it became the chancery division of the High Court of
Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
[1913 Webster]
2. In the Unites States, a court of equity; equity;
proceeding in equity.
[1913 Webster]
Note: A court of chancery, so far as it is a court of equity,
in the English and American sense, may be generally, if
not precisely, described as one having jurisdiction in
cases of rights, recognized and protected by the
municipal jurisprudence, where a plain, adequate, and
complete remedy can not be had in the courts of common
law. In some of the American States, jurisdiction at
law and in equity centers in the same tribunal. The
courts of the United States also have jurisdiction both
at law and in equity, and in all such cases they
exercise their jurisdiction, as courts of law, or as
courts of equity, as the subject of adjudication may
require. In others of the American States, the courts
that administer equity are distinct tribunals, having
their appropriate judicial officers, and it is to the
latter that the appellation courts of chancery is
usually applied; but, in American law, the terms equity
and court of equity are more frequently employed than
the corresponding terms chancery and court of chancery.
--Burrill.
[1913 Webster]
Inns of chancery. See under Inn.
To get (or to hold) In chancery (Boxing), to get the head
of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel
it with the other fist at will; hence, to have wholly in
One's power. The allusion is to the condition of a person
involved in the chancery court, where he was helpless,
while the lawyers lived upon his estate.
[1913 Webster] |
Master in chancery
(gcide) | Master \Mas"ter\ (m[.a]s"t[~e]r), n. [OE. maistre, maister, OF.
maistre, mestre, F. ma[^i]tre, fr. L. magister, orig. a
double comparative from the root of magnus great, akin to Gr.
me`gas. Cf. Maestro, Magister, Magistrate, Magnitude,
Major, Mister, Mistress, Mickle.]
1. A male person having another living being so far subject
to his will, that he can, in the main, control his or its
actions; -- formerly used with much more extensive
application than now.
(a) The employer of a servant.
(b) The owner of a slave.
(c) The person to whom an apprentice is articled.
(d) A sovereign, prince, or feudal noble; a chief, or one
exercising similar authority.
(e) The head of a household.
(f) The male head of a school or college.
(g) A male teacher.
(h) The director of a number of persons performing a
ceremony or sharing a feast.
(i) The owner of a docile brute, -- especially a dog or
horse.
(j) The controller of a familiar spirit or other
supernatural being.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who uses, or controls at will, anything inanimate; as,
to be master of one's time. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Master of a hundred thousand drachms. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
We are masters of the sea. --Jowett
(Thucyd.).
[1913 Webster]
3. One who has attained great skill in the use or application
of anything; as, a master of oratorical art.
[1913 Webster]
Great masters of ridicule. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
No care is taken to improve young men in their own
language, that they may thoroughly understand and be
masters of it. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
4. A title given by courtesy, now commonly pronounced
m[i^]ster, except when given to boys; -- sometimes written
Mister, but usually abbreviated to Mr.
[1913 Webster]
5. A young gentleman; a lad, or small boy.
[1913 Webster]
Where there are little masters and misses in a
house, they are impediments to the diversions of the
servants. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Naut.) The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually
called captain. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy
ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly,
an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under
the commander, of sailing the vessel.
[1913 Webster]
7. A person holding an office of authority among the
Freemasons, esp. the presiding officer; also, a person
holding a similar office in other civic societies.
[1913 Webster]
Little masters, certain German engravers of the 16th
century, so called from the extreme smallness of their
prints.
Master in chancery, an officer of courts of equity, who
acts as an assistant to the chancellor or judge, by
inquiring into various matters referred to him, and
reporting thereon to the court.
Master of arts, one who takes the second degree at a
university; also, the degree or title itself, indicated by
the abbreviation M. A., or A. M.
Master of the horse, the third great officer in the British
court, having the management of the royal stables, etc. In
ceremonial cavalcades he rides next to the sovereign.
Master of the rolls, in England, an officer who has charge
of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of
the records of the chancery, and acts as assistant judge
of the court. --Bouvier. --Wharton.
Past master,
(a) one who has held the office of master in a lodge of
Freemasons or in a society similarly organized.
(b) a person who is unusually expert, skilled, or
experienced in some art, technique, or profession; --
usually used with at or of.
The old masters, distinguished painters who preceded modern
painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th
and 17th centuries.
To be master of one's self, to have entire self-control;
not to be governed by passion.
To be one's own master, to be at liberty to act as one
chooses without dictation from anybody.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Master, signifying chief, principal, masterly,
superior, thoroughly skilled, etc., is often used
adjectively or in compounds; as, master builder or
master-builder, master chord or master-chord, master
mason or master-mason, master workman or
master-workman, master mechanic, master mind, master
spirit, master passion, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Throughout the city by the master gate.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Master joint (Geol.), a quarryman's term for the more
prominent and extended joints traversing a rock mass.
Master key, a key adapted to open several locks differing
somewhat from each other; figuratively, a rule or
principle of general application in solving difficulties.
Master lode (Mining), the principal vein of ore.
Master mariner, an experienced and skilled seaman who is
certified to be competent to command a merchant vessel.
Master sinew (Far.), a large sinew that surrounds the hough
of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow
place, where the windgalls are usually seated.
Master singer. See Mastersinger.
Master stroke, a capital performance; a masterly
achievement; a consummate action; as, a master stroke of
policy.
Master tap (Mech.), a tap for forming the thread in a screw
cutting die.
Master touch.
(a) The touch or skill of a master. --Pope.
(b) Some part of a performance which exhibits very
skillful work or treatment. "Some master touches of
this admirable piece." --Tatler.
Master work, the most important work accomplished by a
skilled person, as in architecture, literature, etc.;
also, a work which shows the skill of a master; a
masterpiece.
Master workman, a man specially skilled in any art,
handicraft, or trade, or who is an overseer, foreman, or
employer.
[1913 Webster] |
To get or to hold In chancery
(gcide) | Chancery \Chan"cer*y\, n. [F. chancellerie, LL. cancellaria,
from L. cancellarius. See Chancellor, and cf.
Chancellery.]
1. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next
to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but
chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873
it became the chancery division of the High Court of
Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
[1913 Webster]
2. In the Unites States, a court of equity; equity;
proceeding in equity.
[1913 Webster]
Note: A court of chancery, so far as it is a court of equity,
in the English and American sense, may be generally, if
not precisely, described as one having jurisdiction in
cases of rights, recognized and protected by the
municipal jurisprudence, where a plain, adequate, and
complete remedy can not be had in the courts of common
law. In some of the American States, jurisdiction at
law and in equity centers in the same tribunal. The
courts of the United States also have jurisdiction both
at law and in equity, and in all such cases they
exercise their jurisdiction, as courts of law, or as
courts of equity, as the subject of adjudication may
require. In others of the American States, the courts
that administer equity are distinct tribunals, having
their appropriate judicial officers, and it is to the
latter that the appellation courts of chancery is
usually applied; but, in American law, the terms equity
and court of equity are more frequently employed than
the corresponding terms chancery and court of chancery.
--Burrill.
[1913 Webster]
Inns of chancery. See under Inn.
To get (or to hold) In chancery (Boxing), to get the head
of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel
it with the other fist at will; hence, to have wholly in
One's power. The allusion is to the condition of a person
involved in the chancery court, where he was helpless,
while the lawyers lived upon his estate.
[1913 Webster] |
chancery
(wn) | chancery
n 1: a court with jurisdiction in equity [syn: chancery,
court of chancery]
2: an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records; a
court of public records |
court of chancery
(wn) | court of chancery
n 1: a court with jurisdiction in equity [syn: chancery,
court of chancery] |
CHANCERY
(bouvier) | CHANCERY. The name of a court exercising jurisdiction at law, but mainly in
equity.
2. It is not easy to determine how courts of equity originally obtained
the jurisdiction they now exercise. Their authority, and the extent of it,
have been subjects of much question, but time has firmly established them;
and the limits of their jurisdiction seem to be in a great degree fixed and
ascertained. 1 Story on Eq. ch. 2; Mitf. Pl. Introd.; Coop. Eq. Pl. Introd.
See also Butler's Reminiscences, 38, 40; 3 Bl. Com. 435; 2 Bin. 135; 4 Bin.
50; 6 Bin. 162; 2 Serg. & R. 356; 9 Serg. & R. 315; for the necessity,
origin and use of courts of chancery.
3. The judge of the court of chancery, often called a court of equity,
bears the title of chancellor. The equity jurisdiction, in England, is
vested, principally, in the high court of chancery. This court is distinct
from courts of law. "American courts of equity are, in some instances,
distinct from those of law, in others, the same tribunals exercise the
jurisdiction both of courts of law and equity, though their forms of
proceeding are different in their two capacities. The supreme court of the
United States, and the circuit courts, are invested with general equity
powers, and act either as court's of law or equity, according to the form of
the process and the subject of adjudication. In some of the states, as New
York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal,
having its appropriate judge, or chancellor, and officers. In most of the
states, the two jurisdictions centre in the same judicial officers, as in
the courts of the United States; and the extent of equity jurisdiction and
proceedings is very various in the different states, being very ample in
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina,
and more restricted in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.
But the salutary influence of these powers on the judicial administration
generally, by the adaptation of chancery forms and modes of proceeding to
many cases in which a court of law affords but an imperfect remedy, or no
remedy at all, is producing a gradual extension of them in those states
where they have been, heretofore, very limited."
4. The jurisdiction of a court of equity differs essentially from that
of a court of law. The remedies for wrongs, or for the enforcement of
rights, may be distinguished into two classes those which are administered
in courts of law, and those which are administered in courts of equity. The
rights secured by the former are called legal; those secured by the latter
are called equitable. The former are said to be rights and remedies at
common law, because recognized and enforced in courts of common law. The
latter are said to be rights and remedies in equity, because they are
administered in courts of equity or chancery, or by proceedings in other
courts analogous to those in courts of equity or chancery. Now, in England
and America, courts of common law proceed by certain prescribed forms, and
give a general judgment for or against the defendant. They entertain
jurisdiction only in certain actions, and give remedies according to the
particular exigency of such actions. But there are many cases in which a
simple judgment for either party, without qualifications and conditions, and
particular arrangements, will not. do entire justice, ex aequo et bono, to
either party. Some modification of the rights of both parties is required;
some restraints on one side or the other; and some peculiar adjustments,
either present or future, temporary or perpetual. Now, in all these cases,
courts of common law have no methods of proceeding, which can accomplish
such objects. Their forms of actions and judgment are not adapted to them.
The proper remedy cannot be found, or cannot be administered to the full
extent of the relative rights of all parties. Such prescribed forms of
actions are not confined to our law. They were known in the civil law; and
the party could apply them only to their original purposes. In other cases,
he had a special remedy. In such cases, where the courts of common law
cannot grant the proper remedy or relief, the law of England and of the
United States (in those states where equity is administered) authorizes an
application to the courts of equity or chancery, which are not confined or
limited in their modes of relief by such narrow regulations, but which grant
relief to all parties, in cases where they have rights, ex aequo et bono,
and modify and fashion that relief according to circumstances. The most
general description of a court of equity is, that it has jurisdiction in
cases where a plain, adequate and complete remedy cannot be had at law that
is, in common law courts. The remedy must be plain; for, if it be doubtful
and obscure at law, equity will assert a jurisdiction. So it must be
adequate at law; for, if it fall short of what the party is entitled to,
that founds a jurisdiction in equity. And it must be complete; that is, it
must attain its full end at law it must reach the whole mischief and secure
the whole right of the party, now and for the future otherwise equity will
interpose, and give relief. The jurisdiction of a court of equity is
sometimes concurrent with that of courts of, law and sometimes it is
exclusive. It exercises concurrent jurisdiction in cases where the rights
are purely of a legal nature, but where other and more efficient aid is
required than a court of law can afford, to meet the difficulties of the
case, and ensure full redress. In some of these cases courts of law formerly
refused all redress but now will grant it. But the jurisdiction having been
once justly acquired at a time when there was no such redress at law, it is
not now relinquished. The most common exercise of concurrent jurisdiction is
in cases of account, accident, dower, fraud, mistake, partnership, and
partition. The remedy is here often more complete and effectual than it can
be at law. In many cases falling under these heads, and especially in some
cases of fraud, mistake and accident, courts of law cannot and do not afford
any redress; in others they do, but not always in so perfect a manner. A
court of equity also is assistant to the jurisdiction of courts of law, in
many cases, where the latter have no like authority. It will remove legal
impediments to the fair decision of a question depending at law. It will
prevent a party from improperly setting up, at a trial, some title or claim,
which would be inequitable. It will compel him to discover, on his own oath,
facts which he knows are material to the rights of the other party, but
which a court of law cannot compel the party to discover. It will perpetuate
the testimony of witnesses to rights and titles, which are in danger of being
lost, before the, matter can be tried. It will provide for the safety of
property in dispute pending litigation. It will counteract and control, or
set aside, fraudulent judgments. It will exercise, in many cases, an
exclusive jurisdiction. This it does in all cases of morely equitable
rights, that is, such rights as are not recognized in courts of law. Most
cases of trust and confidence fall under this head. Its exclusive
jurisdiction is also extensively exercised in granting special relief beyond
the reach of the common law. It will grant injunctions to prevent waste, or
irreparable injury, or to secure a settled right, or to prevent vexatious
litigations, or to compel the restitution of title deeds; it will appoint
receivers of property, where it is in danger of misapplication it will
compel the surrender of securities improperly obtained; it will prohibit a
party from leaving the country in order to avoid a suit it will restrain any
undue exercise of a legal right, against conscience and equity; it will
decree a specific performance of contracts respecting real estates; it will,
in many cases, supply the imperfect execution of instruments, and reform and
alter them according to the real intention of the parties; it will grant
relief in cases of lost deeds or securities; and, in all cases in which its
interference is asked, its general rule is, that he who asks equity must do
equity. If a party, therefore, should ask to have a bond for a usurious debt
given up, equity could not decree it, unless he could bring into court the
money honestly due without usury. This is a very general and imperfect
outline of the jurisdiction of a court of equity; in respect to which it has
been justly remarked, that, in matters within its exclusive jurisdiction,
where substantial justice entitles the party to relief, but the positive law
is silent, it is impossible to define the boundaries of that jurisdiction,
or to enumerate, with precision, its various principles." Ency. Am. art.
Equity. Vide Fonb. Eq.; Story on Eq.; Madd. Ch. Pr.; 10 Amer. Jur. 227;
Coop. Eq. Pl.; Redesd. Pl.; Newl. Cb. Practice; Beame's Pl. Eq.; Jeremy on
Eq.; Encycl. Amer. article Equity, Court.
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MASTER IN CHANCERY
(bouvier) | MASTER IN CHANCERY. An officer of the court of chancery.
2. The origin of these officers is thus accounted for. The chancellor
from the first found it necessary to have a number of clerks, were it for no
other purpose, than to perform the mechanical part of the business, the
writing; these soon rose to the number of twelve. In process of time this
number being found insufficient, these clerks contrived to have other clerks
under them, and then, the original clerks became distinguished by the name
of masters in chancery. He is an assistant to the chancellor, who refers to
him interlocutory orders for stating accounts, computing damages, and the
like. Masters in chancery are also invested with other powers, by local
regulations. Vide Blake's Ch. Pr. 26; 1 Madd. Pr. 8 1 Smith's Ch. Pr. 9, 19.
3. In England there are two kinds of masters in chancery, the ordinary,
and the extraordinary..
4.-1. The masters in ordinary execute the orders of the court, upon
references made to them, and certify in writing in what manner they have
executed such orders. 1 Sm. Ch. Pr. 9.
5.-2. The masters extraordinary perform the duty of taking affidavits
touching any matter in or relating to the court of chancery, taking the
acknowledgment of deeds to be enrolled in the said court, and taking such
recognizances, as may by the tenor of the order for entering them, be taken
before a master extraordinary. 1 Sm. Ch. Pr. 19. Vide, generally, 1 Harg.
Law Tr. 203, a Treatise of the Maister of the Chauncerie.
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