衡平法的胜利——大法官法院与普通法法院的管辖权冲突

Victory of Equity:the Jurisdiction Conflicts between the Chancery and the Common Law Courts in England

本文以16世纪末17世纪初英国大法官法院大法官法院与普通法法院的管辖权冲突为研究对象,对这一冲突所涉具体案件进行了完整梳理,指出普通法法院主要是通过《蔑视王权罪法》和人身保护令两条路径发起挑战。尽管在1616年的冲突中国王詹姆士一世作出"衡平法优先"的裁决,但事实上,衡平法的胜利直至1621年的弹劾培根事件才得以最终确立。而衡平法之所以在冲突中获胜,一方面得益于王权的支持,另一方面在于其已成为英国法中必不可少的有机组成部分。

This article concerns the Jurisdiction Conflicts between the Chancery and the Common Law Courts at the end of the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th century in England,the author presents the related cases in detail and suggests that the Common Law Courts mainly used the Statute of Praemunire and the writ of Habeas Corpus as their weapons.The author holds that although James I made a verdict in favor of the Chancery in 1616,Equity gained the final victory by 1621,because of the support from the king and the role of Equity as absolutely necessary part of English law.