Common Law Courts and Real Estate Considerations

Common law is the collection of rules laid down by generations on judges in the King's Courts covering all matters of contract and all questions of civil wrongs arising between the King's subjects. This is still the case as Jamaica real estate still falls under the King of England control.
The common law in medieval days was a comparatively rigid system. Every action in the King's Courts had to be started with a writ. Today it is easy to obtain and issue a writ. In early history, however, the writ was almost a magician's formula. Unless the wrong, which the would-be litigant complained of, was one which had previously been recognized by the Courts he could not obtained a writ at all. This limitation might be illustrated in this way:
Suppose A complained that B had thrown a log of wood over the garden wall into the road hitting A on the head, A could obtain a writ of "Trespass" and his action was properly started. If the complaint of A happened to be that B had thrown the log over some hours previously and A, coming by in the dark, had not seen it, tripped over it and broken his leg, A could not obtain a writ of trespass because this writ was only caused indirectly.
So A would have to go away without a remedy. There were, of course, a number of different writs, some very like each other, so that there was an added danger that the litigant even if he managed to get a writ might get the wrong one, which would be fatal to his action. Even assuming, however, that he contrived to start his action with the correct writ his course was not plain sailing.
The actual procedure used in actions in the King's Courts was very strict and formal. Any step in the procedure which had been omitted or incorrectly carried out may result in the Plaintiff failing in his action. There was a need, therefore for some system less rigid in its application than this common law. Normally where instances such as Jamaica property for sale in a Kingston auction occur, the court can stop all proceedings and title transfers.
There were additional disadvantages of the common law connected with the remedies available. At common law the only remedy recognized was the award of damages: it was considered that there was no injury for which a sum of money would not fairly compensate the Plaintiff. Now in the great majority of actions this might be true: But if my neighbor establishes a tannery at the bottom of my garden. I may be more concerned to have him prevented from continuing the offensive smells which appear to be necessary concomitant of tanning, than in obtaining a sum of money from him.
Again, if A refuses to carry out a contract to sell a valuable piece of land to B, B maybe more interested in obtaining the land than compensation for A's breach of contract. In both these eases the common law remedy of damages is really inadequate and what is required is some method of preventing my neighbor from continuing the nuisance in the first case and in the second case, of forcing A to hand over the land upon payment of the price by B.
You can now understand that this common law system was very rigid and the disadvantages are greater than the advantages. This has hampered procedures such as real estate auctions in Kingston Jamaica.