Equity and Estoppel: Filling a Much-Needed Gap?
The Obligations Group were pleased to host a public lecture on 23 August 2023. This lecture was presented by Professor Ben McFarlane (University of Oxford).
The decision of the UK Supreme Court in Guest v Guest [2022] UKSC 27 revealed a split between the judges as to the best approach to determining the right arising where equitable estoppel operates as a cause of action. This split can be seen to reflect a deeper disagreement as to the appropriate role of equitable doctrines in the modern law. In relation to each disagreement, there is much to be said for the approach of the minority: the history of equity after the Judicature Act reforms shows the instability caused by seeing equity as having a "gap-filling" role.
Photo by Phil Desforges on Unsplash
About the Speaker
Ben McFarlane is Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St John's College. He is also a Senior Fellow (Melbourne Law Masters) at Melbourne Law School. He has written widely on both equity and estoppel and is the author of The Law of Proprietary Estoppel (2nd edn, 2020) and co-author of Hayton, McFarlane and Mitchell on Equity and Trusts (15th edn, 2022) and a contributing author of Snell's Equity. He is also the co-editor of Equity Today: 150 Years after the Judicature Reforms (2023).