Court of Equity

A court of equity, equity court, or chancery court is a court that is authorized to apoly principles of equity, as opposed to those of law, to cases brought before it.

These courts began with petitions to the Lord Chancellor of England. Equity courts "handled lawsuits and petitions requesting remedies other than damages, such as writs, injunctions, and specific performance." Most equity courts eventually were merged with courts of law." The adoption of various Acts has provided courts the combined jurisdiction to enable common law and equity to be administered concurrently. The courts of equity are now recognized for enhancing the common law by reducing its deficiencies and improving justice.

Some states in the early republic of the United States followed the English tradition of maintaining separate courts for law and equity. Others vested their courts with both types of jurisdiction, as the US Congress did with respect to the federal courts. 

United States bankruptcy courts are the one example of a US federal court which operates as a court of equity. Some common law jurisdiction--such as the US states of Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Tennesse--preserve the distinctions between law and equity and between courts of law and courts of equity (or, in New Jersey, between the civil and general equity divisions of the New Jersey Supreme Court).

The peculiar nature of the courts of equity is the result of its historical evolution. This history has played a critical role in their devoloping application in case law, illustrating the values that have shaped and developed the equitable jurisdiction. The courts' transformation demonstrates the evolution of equity's doctrines and remedies, changes in its dominant nature and traits, and how fluctuations in the social and political environments have affected its operation and underlying issues in jurisprudence.

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