47 Ga. 400 | Ga. | 1872
Lead Opinion
It is sometimes true in England that equity baving»acquired jurisdiction solely for the pwposes of discovery, will not always retain it to grant relief — though this is rare. In America a Court of equity will never refuse to retain its jurisdiction of a case, once acquired for discovery, unless in those States where the machinery of the Court is such (as for want of a jury) as to prevent a thorough investigation of the issues made; and even in those States the more usual practice is to send the issues of fact to 'a Law Court to investigate and report: 1 Story’s Eq. Juris., 65 to 75; sec. 456. (No such rule prevails even in England, where the jurisdiction attaches for purposes of injunction.) In the usual course of things, when a Court of chancery is applied to, it either has jurisdiction or it has not. If it has, nothing a defendant can do can defeat the jurisdiction. Here it would be especially inequitable to permit him to do so, and thus throw the costs of the bill, which he compelled the complainant to file, upon the latter. We think the principle fairly applies to such a case, that equity having acquired jurisdiction will retain it, for all the purposes of the case. Indeed, the general rule is that, if originally, the jurisdiction has properly attached in equity, in any case, that jurisdiction is not changed or obliterated by the Courts of law now entertaining jurisdiction in such cases where they formerly rejected it: 1 Story’s Eq. J., sec., 64, (i.) This Court
Judgment reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I dissent from the judgment of the Court in this case, on the ground that the Act of 1870, requiring the payment of taxes, is unconstitutional and void.