Class 3A: Penerimaan ekuiti dlm mahkamah/ reception of equity in courts (LOOK FOR FACTS OF

CASES STATED HERE)

-“one who seeks equity must do equity” – one who seeks justice must do justice

-“when you seek equity, you must come with clean hands” – State v Ebrahim

-Re Goods of William Russell – equitable doctrine of election - the executors are not entitled to both
legacy and commission, they must elect which of the two they will take – must take one of two
benefits, fair

-Tan Seng Oui v Palmer – equitable principle of forfeiture, pelucuthakan - can damages be claimed
for failure of performing specific performance – used in Shiffon Creations Pte Ltd v Teong Lee Pte Ltd

-Nain Boon Keow v Letchman Chetty – notice doctrine – whatever is sufficient to put the party to an
enquiry, is good notice in equity – facts, husband able to keep land mortgaged and presently claimed
by deceased wife cause proper notice had been given, but D didn’t pay attention to tht notice – Ds
wife bought lands even tho she claimed shes a widow, D didn’t ask about it and allowed her to buy
the property – D was supposed to ask, find the truth, and disallow her claim

- Khoo Hock Leong v Lim Ang Kee – equity maxim – he who seeks equity must do equity – D spent
money to develop the land, entitled to compensation cause he believed in good faith, tht the land
was his and sought to develop it

-Salwath Haneem v Hadjee Abdullah – dead husband relationship with his brothers, close – court
accepted the equitable principle of confidential relationship -P after her husbands death tried to
claim back assets granted to his brothers, unsuccessful, court recognized the transaction between P
husband and his brothers

-Choa Choon Neoh v Spottiswood – rule against perpetuity – property of deceased testator cant be
in his possession forever and converted into a personal area of worship for his spirit – applied in
England and Msia (Msia doesn’t have statutes or local laws abt perpetuity)

Motor Emporium v Arumugam – equitable assignment

After 1956

-Warren v Tay Say Geok and Ors – lacunae in local law, use common law *common law is not English
law, English law is wider

-conflict with statute and equity, statute upheld – to implement intention of the law

-Leong Bee v Ling Nam Waterworks – if a concept in law no longer exists in common law, cant be
used by Msian courts – followed by Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Pskutuan v TNB – also can use Spore
case Shiffon Creations Pte Ltd v Tong Lee Pte Ltd

-Lee Kee Chong v Empat Nombor Ekor Sdn Bhd – S.3 CLA - laws in England administered after 1956
wont be followed

Class 3B: Fusion

--S. 24, 25

Administrative fusion of equity

-administration of equity ONLY is fused

-Orthodox view, what is fused is administrative in nature, not a fusion of substances, not creating
new cause of actions, merely merged administrative matters, Ashburner: the two streams of
jurisdiction, though they run in the same channel; run side by side, and do not mingle their waters.

-Judicature Act not to abolish the dichotomy between equity and common law, merely to hear the
two kinds of cases together, intended to achieve procedural improvements – Mummery LJ in …

as opposed to

-alternative view

-equity and common law ave substantively been fused, in 1881, Sir George Jessel: there are not two
estates as there were formerly… there is only one court, and equity rules prevail in it – equity is
justice

-adopted by Lord Diplock in United Scientific Holdings v Burough Council: this metaphor (Ashburner’s
metaphor tht equity and common law run parallel to each other) has in my view become most
mischievous and deceptive…the two systems of substantive and adjectival law formerly administered
by courts of law and courts of chancery were fused

-Federal Commerce and Navigation Ltd v Molena Alpha: Lord Denning MR, during tht time the
streams of law and equity have flown together and combined so as to be indistinguishable from one
another

Extra

-liberal view, common law and equity do run together, but not to the extent that they lose the
essence tht distinguishes them