Ideas of Equity

Equity has been little analysed in Scotland, partly, no doubt, dueEquity has been little analysed in Scotland, partly, no doubt, dueto the absence of the institutional split between ‘law’ and ‘equity’found in England and other common-law legal systems. Thatabsence can make the topic hard to grapple with, because it canbe unclear what exactly is meant by ‘equity’ and by ‘equitablerules’. Statements, such as Lord Cooper’s that, in Scotland, ‘lawand equity have never been separated, and equity has tended topredominate’, require clarification and contextualisation if they areto be properly understood.

Ideas of Equity is the first book on equity in Scotland, and onsubstantive equitable rules, since the final edition of Lord Kames’scelebrated Principles of Equity in 1778. It seeks to examine thedifferent understandings of equity which have been associatedwith different areas of private law. In particular, it considers howEnglish rules have interacted with Scottish law. In a series ofseparate chapters, the text reviews the law of unjustifiedenrichment, trusts, constructive trusts, and fiduciary law, andexplains how they have been formed and influenced by differentunderstandings of equity. Each chapter charts the historicaldevelopment from the early-modern period up to the present day,and considers how an understanding of equity which is sometimesshared with English law has affected the development of Scottishrules, and what this may imply for the future development of thelaw. The book begins with a general survey of the field and endswith an assessment of the nature and reach of equity in Scots law.