Билет 1

Equity.

After the formation of the common law courts it was always open to those, who felt that they couldn`t receive justice or afford the expense of going to court, to appeal to or petition the king to «redress their grievances» . This meant pleading with him directly to hear their complains and provide a remedy for them. At first kings would consider these petitions themselves, but then they delegated to one of the Council members. This was the Chancellor- later to receive the title Lord High Chancellor. Because the Lord Chancellor decided petitions addressed to the king, he became known as the «Keeper of the King`s Conscience»; and because there were so many petitions, he came to preside his own court. It was called the Court of Chancery. The law that was applied it the Court of Chancery was known as equity, a word meaning even- handedness and fairness. The essential principle by which the Court of Chancery acted was that everyone should receive fairness and justice. There were three important conditions that a person seeking justice from the Court of Chancery had to meet: 1) he had to show he couldn`t receive justice in the common law courts. 2) he had to show that he was himself without blame (coming to court with clean hands). 3) he had to show that he hadn`t delayed in bringing his case before the court

If he was to do these things, and to satisfy the court that he had suffered as a result of some wrongdoing by another person, the court would give him a remedy, meaning that it would devise some way to ensure that if possible something was done to put right the wrong that had been done to him. For many years the Court of Chancery had a good reputation for delivering justice, but as its popularity grew it couldn`t coup with the volume of petitions presented to it. A second «court of conscience» was created. Known as the Court of Requests, its judges were men trained in civil law. this court was established to provide justice to those who were too poor to have their cases heard in the other courts. As the years went by the Court of Chancery( now the Chancery division of the High Court) tended to specialize in certain areas of the law.

Билет 2.

Judge-made law.

We now have a system of laws, whether common law or equity, in which cases decided by judges have been handed down from generation to generation. They are laws which relate to mane different aspects of our lives. Judges have usually respected and followed the decisions of their «brethren» . in particular, where legal decisions have been made by the Highest Courts in the land, they must be accept and followed lower courts. Only parliament can change these laws. English judge-made laws are one of their national treasures. Over the year the judges in courts have handed down many remarkable judgments, examples of independent and careful thinking, which have led to much important social change. It is necessary to understand that the courts are still constantly advancing the law to meet the ever- changing demands of society. Modern judges are not, however, always prepared to change the old common law themselves, even if they think it`s necessary. There is no doubt that over the centuries the judges will be still responsible for making precedents.