What is Equity (law)?
[[File:Eo-scale2.png|thumb|right|200px]] In [[common law countries]] '''equity''' is based on a [[judiciary]] [[wikt:assessment|assessment]] of [[fairness]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/E/Equity.aspx |title=Equity Definition |publisher=Duhaime.com |access-date=23 October 2015 |archive-date=26 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426064649/http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/E/Equity.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is what is often what is considered fair and right under [[natural law]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://definitions.uslegal.com/e/equity/ |title=Equity Law & Legal Definitions |publisher=USLegal, Inc. |access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> It is used when the [[law]]s themselves do not address an issue or are inadequate in some way.<ref name=Law.com>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=646 |title=equity |publisher=Law.com/ALM |access-date=23 October 2015}}</ref> [[Example]]s of equity decisions include imposing a [[lien]], correcting a [[Surveying|property line]] or ordering someone to do something to prevent [[damage]].<ref name=Law.com/> == History == [[Common law]] in [[England]] can be traced back to the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]].<ref name=Adams87.98>George Burton Adams, 'The Origin of English Equity ', ''Columbia Law Review'', Vol. 16, No. 2 (February, 1916), pp. 87-98</ref> The laws, such as they were then, did not address every concern. At first, a [[Commoners|subject]] (of the [[king]]) had to [[petition]] the king to ask to be heard in his [[court]]. One of the first instances of this was in 1070 when [[Lanfranc]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] had a [[legal case|case]] against [[Odo, Earl of Kent]], the king's brother.<ref name=Adams87.98/> The archbishop petitioned that lands taken by Odo be restored. Rules of equity began when it became apparent that the common law courts could not solve all legal problems.<ref name=Law.com/> The king set up [[Court of Chancery|courts of chancery]] (equity)