ABSTRACT
It is a common feature of human history that we always consider ourselves to be living in a unique time and on the cusp of great events. The underpinning idea behind this book is that we are at such a nodal point in our history at the beginning of the 21st century. Our age is so fast-moving that any system of law based on notions of conscience, as trusts law claims to be, must ask itself what exactly is meant by such moral prescriptions in a changing world. The growing social importance of pension funds and the schism between commercial and familial trusts concepts mean that the norms of trusts law require some reconsideration. We need to understand how rules created for wealthy families in the 18th century can possibly apply to modern pension funds, will trusts and international financial transactions all at once. The place of equity more generally is under challenge from the emerging concept of restitution of unjust enrichment and the growing corpus of human rights law. Nevertheless, as I said at the outset, such periodic soul-searching is the stuff and matter of human history.
