Template:Injunction capsule

An injunction is an equitable remedy for breach of contract — or, for that matter, tort, but finance types tend not to care so much about them — that originated in the English courts of equity. Its aim: to provide redress for wrongs for which an award of money damages — the usual tool in the common law’s armoury — doesn’t quite scratch the itch. An injunction can be given only when there is “no adequate remedy at law” — meaning, prrincipally, the common law, but we suppose it could include statute and regulation as well. So, “M’lud I don’t want money. I want this blighter to stop doing what he’s doing, if he promised he wouldn’t, or start doing what he’s not doing, if he said he would.”

The best example where this principle is commonly regarded to apply — in theory, if not necessarily in practice — is a breach of an obligation of confidentiality.