Cairns's Act Law and Legal Definition
Cairns’s Act is an 1858 English statute that expanded the relief available in England's chancery courts to include monetary damages in addition to injunctive relief. It allowed the English Court of Chancery, the Irish Chancery and the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster to award damages, in addition to their previous function of awarding injunctions and specific performance. The Act also made several procedural changes to the Chancery courts, like allowing them to call a jury. It also allowed the Lord Chancellor to amend the practice regulations of the courts. The Act is named after Sir Hugh Cairns, a British statesman who served as Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom. Cairns's Act was superseded by the Judicature Acts of 1873-1875.
