Preface

• Author: Jeffrey Berryman
• Profession: Professor of Law. Faculty of Law University of Windsor
• Pages: 21-22

PREFACE

The

path taken

by

Canada with respect

to the

development

of

equity

and

equitable remedies

has

been quite

different

from

that trod

by

other

Commonwealth

common

law

jurisdictions, most notably

the

United

Kingdom,

Australia,

and New

Zealand.

In

those countries

one

will

find

an

active scholarship

on the

role

of

equity,

and in

most

law

schools

a

compulsory course

can be

found

with

the

word "equity"

in the

title.

In

Canada,

however, there

are few

modern texts devoted

to the

under-

standing

of

equity itself, although many

are

written

on

aspects

of

equity's progeny,

and it is

more than likely that

a law

student

will grad-

uate without

being

exposed

to any

systematic study

of the law of

equity

or

even equitable remedies.

This

is not to

suggest

that

this

state

of

affairs

is

necessarily bad,

but

simply

to

record

an

observation.

This book

has

been written

to

provide

a

quick

reference

to the law

that

governs

the

granting

of

equitable remedies

in

common

law

Can-

ada,

and

will

form

a

companion

to

Jamie Cassels' book

on

common

law

remedies.

It is

written

to

assist

law

students

in

their legal studies

as

well

as

practitioners

who

require immediate guidance

on an

area

of

remedial

law

that

is

becoming increasingly important.

In the

following chapters,

after

a

brief

history

of

equity,

the law

relating

to

specific equitable remedies

is

detailed

starting

with

interloc-

utory injunctions.

This

type

of

injunction

is one of the

most frequently

sought

equitable

remedies.

Available practically

at any

time

of the day

they

are the

law's para-medics

— a

quick

response

to

expanding court

dockets, complex multi-party litigation,

and a

remedy

of

choice giving

recognition

to new

substantive

and

procedural rights. Chapters

7 to 9

cover

permanent injunctions. Chapters

10 to 14 are

devoted

to the

other main coercive remedy,

specific

performance.

In

this

area

Cana-

dian courts have chartered

a new

course,

no

longer keeping

specific

performance

as the

presumptive remedy

in

real property contracts.

The

change wrought

in the

availability

of

specific

relief

for

contracts

of

realty

may

herald changes

in the

availability

of

specific

relief

in

other

areas where traditionally

it has not

played

an

active role. Chapter

15

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