Equitable remedies are granted at the court's discretion to address wrongs where legal damages are inadequate. They include specific performance, which compels performance of a contract according to its terms, and injunctions, which are court orders prohibiting or requiring an action. Specific performance ensures compliance with contract terms while injunctions restrain breaches of negative contractual obligations. Equitable remedies can be varied if facts change and are intended to provide flexible relief not available at common law.

1. EQUITABLE REMEDIES

2. DEFINITION
• Remedies: “any methods available at law for the
enforcement, protection, or recovery of rights or for
obtaining redress for their infringement”.
• Therefore, when there is infringement of right, or
rather breach, remedies are always available to the
innocent parties.
• Equitable remedies: “Remedies granted by equity
to redress wrong”.

3. NATURE
• Given entirely by the court’s discretion.
• It cannot be sought as of right and it will be granted
where common law damages would be an
inadequate remedy, where it would cause hardship
or injustice.
• Similarly, a plaintiff may be refused relief if he is in
breach or is not ready, willing and able to perform
his outstanding obligations under the contract.

4. NATURE
• Equitable remedies can be varied or dissolved if the
court discovers later that the application for such
relief was made on suppressed facts or that the
facts upon which the order was granted no longer
exist.

5. Gilligan v National Bank Ltd (1901)
• “A remarkable feature over the centuries was
the ability and willingness of Equity to grant
elastic remedies which were not obtainable
at law”.

6. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE
JC Willianson Ltd v Lukey and Mulholland [1931]
“A remedy to compel the execution of a contract
which requires some definite thing to be done before
the transaction is complete and the parties’ rights are
settled and defined in the manner intended’.
• In short, specific performance is a decree of the court
directing that the contract shall be performed
specifically, that is, according to its terms

7. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE
• The elaborate provisions governing the decree are
enacted the Specific ReliefAct 1950.
• Where a contract is suitable for a decree of specific
performance, the plaintiff may commence
proceedings as soon as:
v) the defendant threatens to refuse performance, or
vi) The defendant breaches the contract by failing to
perform when the time for performance arrives.

8. INJUNCTION
Doherty v Allman [1878]
Lord Cairns described injunction as specific
performance of a negative bargain.
• They are prohibitory in their most common form;
orders prohibiting parties from breaching their
contractual undertakings and, usually, they are
granted to stop one party doing something he or she
has promised not to do.

9. • Injunction is also called “Preventive Relief” as
classed in Part III of Specific Relief Act 1950.
• An injunction is either prohibitory or mandatory:
v) Prohibitory injunction- in the form of restraining
order, stopping something from being done,
(preventive);
ii) Mandatory injunction- a court order requiring
something to be done (restorative).

10. SPECIFIC
PERFORMANCE INJUNCTION
An injunction is
Usually granted to
usually granted to
ensure compliance
restrain the breach of
with a particular
a negative stipulation
term of a contract.
in a contract