This book is the fourth in a series of essay collections on defences in private law. It addresses defences to liability arising in equity. The essays range from those adopting a mainly doctrinal perspective to others that explore the law from a more philosophical perspective. Some essays concentrate on specific defences, while others are concerned with the links between defences, or with how defences relate to the structure of the law of equity generally. One aim of the book is to shed light on equitable doctrines by analysing them through the lens of defences. The essays offer original contributions to this complex, important but neglected field of scholarly investigation. The contributors - judges, practitioners and academics - are all distinguished jurists. The essays are addressed to all of the major common law jurisdictions.

1. Introduction PAUL S DAVIES, SIMON DOUGLAS AND JAMES GOUDKAMP2. Equitable Defences as Meta-Law HENRY E SMITH3. Set-Off and the Nature of Equity ROBERT STEVENS 4. Purchase for Value Without NoticeDAVID FOX5. Beneficiaries' Consent to Trustees' Unauthorised Acts YING KHAI LIEW AND CHARLES MITCHELL6. Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Consent and Prior Court Authorisation SIMONE DEGELING7. Exemption Clauses in Trusts PHILIP SALES8. Professional AdviceMICHAEL ASHDOWN9. Want of Causation as a Defence to Liability for Misapplication of Trust Assets PG TURNER10. Laying the Axe to the Root of the Tree? Shielding a Co-trustee from Liability JOSHUA GETZLER11. Marshalling Marshalling CHRISTOPHER HARE12. Illegality in Equity PAUL S DAVIES13. The Future of Clean Hands NICHOLAS J MCBRIDE14. 'Not Slavishly Nor Always'-Equity and Limitation Statutes MARK LEEMING15. The Importance of Being Earnest: The Doctrines of Laches and AcquiescenceLUSINA HO