ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of common law in England. It explains the reasons for the growth of equity. The chapter outlines the contribution made to law by equity. It aims to understand the nature of a trust. The chapter also aims to distinguish between rights in law and rights in equity. It explores the doctrine of notice and discusses the reasons why land law was reformed in 1925 and examines the main changes made by the legislation. If owner have an equitable right which takes effect in equity then their right does not bind the world. Although the systems of law and equity have merged, there can be both legal and equitable rights in property, in particular in land. The idea of registration, and the sort of administrative framework which it implied, had been familiar for many decades before the first effective scheme of registration of title was introduced by the Land Transfer Act 1897.
