Virginia Court of Chancery

Last updated

The Virginia Courts of Chancery were state courts with equity jurisdiction, which existed in Virginia from 1777 to 1831.

State court (United States) court of a U.S. state

In the United States, a state court has jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state. State courts handle the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States; the much smaller in case load and personnel, United States federal courts, handle different types of cases.

Equity (law) set of legal principles that supplement the strict rules of law

In jurisdictions following the English common law system, equity is the body of law which was developed in the English Court of Chancery and which is now administered concurrently with the common law.

Virginia State of the United States of America

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's estimated population as of 2018 is over 8.5 million.

Contents

High Court of Chancery

The Virginia General Assembly passed a law creating the High Court of Chancery during its October 1777 session. [1] The Court met in the state capitol and was given jurisdiction over all equity cases for the entire state of Virginia, including those pending at the time in the General Court. [2] The High Court of Chancery could hear cases brought before it by original process or appeals from a lower court. Its decisions could be appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, and the High Court of Chancery could ask the General Court to give an opinion on a legal issue. [3] On January 23, 1802, the General Assembly abolished the High Court of Chancery and replaced it with the Superior Courts of Chancery. [4]

Virginia General Assembly legislative body of Virginia, United States

The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members. Combined together, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House, while the Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the "Clerk of the Senate".

Chancellors of the High Court of Chancery

John Blair Jr. American judge

John Blair Jr. was an American politician, Founding Father and jurist.

Edmund Pendleton American judge

Edmund Pendleton was a Virginia planter, politician, lawyer and judge. He served in the Virginia legislature before and during the American Revolutionary War, rising to the position of Speaker. Pendleton attended the First Continental Congress as one of Virginia's delegates alongside George Washington and Patrick Henry, and led the conventions both wherein Virginia declared independence (1776) and adopted the U.S. Constitution (1788). Unlike his sometime political rival Henry, Pendleton was a moderate who initially hoped for reconciliation, rather than revolt. With Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe, Pendleton revised Virginia's legal code after the break with Britain. To contemporaries, Pendleton may have distinguished himself most as a judge, particularly in the appellate roles in which he spent his final 25 years, including leadership of what is now known as the Supreme Court of Virginia. On hearing of his death, Congress agreed to wear badges of mourning for 30 days and expressed "their regret that another star is fallen from the splendid constellation of virtue and talents which guided the people of the United States, in their struggle for independence".

George Wythe first American law professor, a noted classics scholar and Virginia judge, as well as a prominent opponent of slavery

George Wythe was the first American law professor, a noted classics scholar, and a Virginia judge. The first of the seven Virginia signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence, Wythe served as one of Virginia's representatives to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention. Wythe taught and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay and other men who became American leaders.

Superior Courts of Chancery

The Superior Courts of Chancery were created in 1802 to handle chancery matters initially handled by the High Court of Chancery. The state was divided into three chancery districts and cases from the counties composing the district were tried in a fixed location within each district. The records were kept in that location. Five additional districts were created before the court was supplanted by local Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery in 1831. This court was sometimes called District Court of Chancery. [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Hening 9. pp. 389-99.
  2. ↑ Hening 10. p. 152.
  3. ↑ Hening 12. pp. 766-8.
  4. ↑ Shepherd 2. pp. 320-2.
  5. ↑ "Blair, John, Jr.", American National Biography Online.
  6. ↑ "Nicholas, Robert Carter", American National Biography Online.
  7. ↑ "Pendleton, Edmund", American National Biography Online.
  8. ↑ Kirtland (1986), 205.
  9. ↑ Crawford (2014).

Related Research Articles

Court of Chancery court of equity in England and Wales

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants. Its initial role was somewhat different: as an extension of the Lord Chancellor's role as Keeper of the King's Conscience, the Court was an administrative body primarily concerned with conscientious law. Thus the Court of Chancery had a far greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the jurisdiction to overrule for much of its existence, and was far more flexible. Until the 19th century, the Court of Chancery could apply a far wider range of remedies than common law courts, such as specific performance and injunctions, and had some power to grant damages in special circumstances. With the shift of the Exchequer of Pleas towards a common law court and loss of its equitable jurisdiction by the Administration of Justice Act 1841, the Chancery became the only national equitable body in the English legal system.

In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" relative to a court with limited jurisdiction, which is restricted to civil cases involving monetary amounts with a specific limit, or criminal cases involving offenses of a less serious nature. A superior court may hear appeals from lower courts.

A court of equity, equity court or chancery court is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity, as opposed to those of law, to cases brought before it.

The High Court of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judge and jury. It also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit Court. It also has the power to determine whether or not a law is constitutional, and of judicial review over acts of the government and other public bodies.

The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the American state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court.

The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts. Under the State Constitution, "'judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, County Courts and inferior courts of limited jurisdiction.'" The Superior Court has three divisions: the Appellate Division is essentially an intermediate appellate court while the Law and Chancery Divisions function as trial courts. The State Constitution renders the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division the intermediate appellate court, and "[a]ppeals may be taken to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court from the law and chancery divisions of the Superior Court and in such other causes as may be provided by law." Each division is in turn divided into various parts. "The trial divisions of the Superior Court are the principal trial courts of New Jersey. They are located within the State's various judicial geographic units, called 'vicinages,' R. 1:33-2(a), and are organized into two basic divisions: the Chancery Division and the Law Division".

The Delaware Superior Court, previously known as the Superior Court and Orphans' Court, is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in the state of Delaware. It has original jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases. It also serves as an intermediate appellate court, hearing appeals on the record from the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, and most state administrative agencies. It is headed by Judge Jan R. Jurden

Paul Carrington (judge) American judge

Paul Carrington (1733–1811) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and politician. He served in the House of Burgesses before being elected a Justice of the Virginia Court of Appeals. He was a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788, and cast his vote for ratification of the United States Constitution.

Peter Lyons (Virginia judge) American judge

Peter Lyons was a Virginia lawyer and judge. He was elected as one of the first justices to serve on the Virginia Court of Appeals, and he later became the second President and Chief Justice of the Court.

Spencer Roane American judge

Spencer Roane was a Virginia lawyer, politician and jurist. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates for six years and a year in the Commonwealth's small executive branch. The majority of his public career was as a judge, first of the General Court and later on the Court of Appeals.

Harry L. Carrico American judge

Harry Lee Carrico was a member, Chief Justice, and Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. His tenure as an active Justice of the Court, at more than 42 years, was the longest of any justice excluding William Fleming, who served nearly 44 years, from 1780-1824. Because current law requires active judges and Justices in Virginia to retire or take senior status on or shortly after their seventieth birthdays, Justice Carrico's longevity record likely will not be challenged.

Virginia Ratifying Convention Convention ratifying the U.S. Constitution

The Virginia Ratifying Convention was a convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, which had been drafted at the Philadelphia Convention the previous year.

The New York Court of Chancery was the highest court in the State of New York from 1701 to 1847.

John Tyler Sr. American judge

John Tyler Sr. was a Virginia planter, judge, 15th Governor of Virginia (1808–1811) and the father of the tenth President of the United States, John Tyler Jr.

This article is about the General Court of Virginia that existed in the 17th through 19th centuries. For the modern Virginia General District Courts, see Virginia General District Court.

William Waller Hening (1768–1828) was a 19th-century attorney, legal scholar, publisher and politician during the formative years of the United States. He was a contemporary of many founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and James Monroe.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.