Abstract
One of the specificities of the British legal system and more generally of the common law is the notion of Equity. Equity is judge-made entirely and is meant to balance the stricter rules of pure common law with principles of fairness. Injunctions are an equitable remedy, insofar as they are not the work of the legislator but rather a creation of judges. Super-injunctions, as a specific category of injunctions, are a remedy originating in Equity, and are also a manifestation of the historical power of English courts. Under Equity, English courts have historically been able to give out injunctions in personam: "Equity enforces its decrees by a personal order against the defendant: breach of the order would be a contempt of court, for which he was liable to imprisonment.
Provided that the defendant is within the jurisdiction of the court, it does not matter that the subject of the dispute is outside of it"2. This demonstrates the great power of English courts, which manifests itself in the fact that today, the breach of a super-injunction generates liability for contempt of court, which can be sanctioned by fines or even imprisonment. Contempt of court is deeply engrained in the British legal system, as it is an established principle in the common law but also by statute: the Contempt of Court Act of 1981 creates a strict liability rule "whereby conduct may be treated as a contempt of court as tending to interfere with the course of justice in legal proceedings regardless of intent to do so".
