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"Court of Equity" in Ireland in 2022?

  • 16-08-2022 2:30pm
    #1
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 211 ✭


    Centuries ago there used to be a court of equity in the part of Ireland under Norman/English law. As far as I'm aware, it used to decide fairness in cases where right and wrong might have been clear in narrow legal terms. I'm open to correction on exactly what it did, though.


    In 2022 what court in the legal system deals with this sort of equity issue, and to what extent does it have power? For instance, if somebody invents something but they had signed a standard university lecturing/research contract in their 20s granting the university all rights to the intellectual property, the university now owns the rights to an invention/patent which could be exceedingly lucrative. How could any sort of court of equity in Ireland in 2022 reward the inventor in such a legally black and white scenario?

    By the way, this article says, "The Four Courts of Equity were the Exchequer, Chancery, Common Pleas, and King's/Queen's Bench." Is the full title of the modern Four Courts today the Four Courts of Equity? [https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ireland_Court_Records]



Comments

  • #2
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    It used to be that different courts exercised different jurisdictions and that a court of law could not administer equity and vice versa. That was effectively ended here by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act, 1877 which basically allowed any judge of the High Court or Court of Appeal (as it then was) to administer both law and equity concurrently. Principles of equity had to be recognised in all cases, as did principles of law.

    As for your "hypothetical" - equity will hold you to a bargain made unless there is some overriding reason not to. So if you freely, and without coercion, entered into a binding contract where the university owned your IP for everything created under their auspices then equity would hold you to that bargain because it would be inequitable for you to take the benefit of that contract without being held to the obligations.


    NOTE: This is a dramatic over-simplification of what happened, and of your hypothetical. But that's basically it.



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