Unjust Enrichment
Peter Birks
Abstract
This book gives a concise account of the law of unjust enrichment. It attempts to move away from the use of obscure terminology inherited from the past and insists on the switch from restitution to unjust enrichment, from response to event. It organises modern law around five simple questions: Was the defendant enriched? If so, was it at the claimant's expense? If so, was it unjust? The fourth question is then what kind of right the claimant has, and the fifth is whether the defendant has any defences. This text is the second edition, which was revised and updated by the author before his deat ... More
This book gives a concise account of the law of unjust enrichment. It attempts to move away from the use of obscure terminology inherited from the past and insists on the switch from restitution to unjust enrichment, from response to event. It organises modern law around five simple questions: Was the defendant enriched? If so, was it at the claimant's expense? If so, was it unjust? The fourth question is then what kind of right the claimant has, and the fifth is whether the defendant has any defences. This text is the second edition, which was revised and updated by the author before his death in 2004. It represents the final thinking of the world's leading authority on the subject.
Keywords:
unjust enrichment,
restitution,
modern law,
defendant,
claimant
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2005 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199276981 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276981.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Peter Birks, author
former Regius Professor of Civil Law, All Souls College, University of Oxford
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