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 (or "inequity") of the
common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including
trusts,
land law, the administration of the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants. Its initial role was somewhat different, however; 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 the common law courts, such as
specific performance and
injunctions, and also 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.