The Chancery Jurisdiction and Practice; According to Statutes and Decisions in the State of Illinois, from the Earliest Period to 1873. Exemplified by a Complete Record in Chancery, as Evolved in a Suit Which Was Pending in the Federal (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 edition. Excerpt: ...THE JURISDICTION BEACHES EVERY SPECIES or FRAUD, except (h) Nelson v. Rockwell, 14 Ill. 37b. that of a penal nature, (z') and a court of equity will annul all transactions founded upon fraud from a simple contract, to a judgment or decree. Fraud vitiates every thing it pervades.(7') ' 4. A nacnas MAY as mrmcnsn. A bill maybemaintained to impeach a decree obtained by fraud, or which is manifestly unjust.(k) ALs0 A JUDGMENT. Our supreme court has recently held what may be considered the finer distinctions observed in relation to records, that is to say, while a judgment is conclusive upon parties and privies, and cannot be impeached, still in equity it may be vacated and set aside, where it has been procured by collusion. But it is not every fraud that will produce that result. It is only in cases where there has been a fraudulent collusion to obtain the judgment which is injurious to parties or privies, that a court of equity will interfere to avoid the judgment. The mere concealment of facts by either party to the suit is not regarded as such a fraud.(l) The English courts hold that a judgment or decree obtained by fraud upon a court binds no one, and that such a frauo may be alleged in a collateral proceeding, (m) and generally that fraud avoids all judicial acts, both ecclesiastical and temporal.(n.) Nor is this rule, it is said, confined to the higher courts. Every court of judicature of the realm, from the highest to the lowest, may treat the judgment of any other court, which can be shown to have been obtained by manifest fraud, as null and void.(o) But it is still an open question, whether the application should not be made directly to the court which pronounced the judgment to vacate it.(p) A party obtaining the fraudulent judgment, ...