Willis: Anglo-American Law 
35 
are the proximate consequence of the wrongful act. Damages 
are a compensatory redressive remedial obligation. 
(a) Other redressive remedies are restorative. The chief 
of these are reformation, rescission, specific performance, 
ejectment, and replevin. The preventive remedies are injunc- 
tion and prohibition. Reformation, rescission, specific per- 
formance, and injunction are called equitable remedies because 
developed by the courts of equity, or chancery. They are all 
private remedial rights in personam i; reformation, to reform 
a written contract to make it conform to a valid oral one 
where by mutual mistake, or mistake and fraud, the con- 
tract has not been correctly reduced to writing; rescission, 
to set aside a contract voidable for fraud, misrepresentation, 
duress, undue influence, infancy, or insanity; specific per- 
formance, to compel the fulfillment of a valid promise where 
the remedy for damages is inadequate and the contract is 
fair, free, mutual, and capable of being presently executed; 
injunction, to restrain the doing of an illegal act where the 
remedy for damages would be inadequate; ejectment, to re- 
gain the possession of land wrongfully detained; replevin, to 
regain the possession of chattels wrongfully detained. 
In addition to the above remedies there are some remedies 
called extraordinary legal remedies. They are mandamus, 
prohibition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus. Mandamus 
is like specific performance, except that it is a writ issued in 
the name of the state or sovereign and must be directed to 
some inferior court, public officer, or corporation, and can be 
used to redress only obligations or duties imposed by law. 
Prohibition is like injunction, except that it is a writ issued 
by a superior court to an inferior court or tribunal to prevent 
it from usurping or exceeding its jurisdiction, and not to 
private parties. The ancient writ of quo warranto was a 
high prerogative writ issued in the name of the king against 
anyone who usurped or claimed an office or franchise. The 
modern information in the nature of quo warranto — criminal 
in form but civil in nature — is presented to a court of com- 
petent jurisdiction by the public prosecutor to inquire into 
the legality of the claim which a party asserts to an office 
or franchise. The writ of habeas corpus is a summary remedy 
to relieve against illegal restraint of personal liberty. 
The proper action for procuring equitable relief is a bill 
