Restitution

Restitution: A new perspective provides a detailed critique of current and widely accepted theories seeking to unify the law of restitution on the basis of a principle of unjust enrichment. Commencing with a brief history of restitution, the book proceeds to illustrate the diverse legal problems addressed by the law of restitution. The legal doctrines now collected under this heading are demonstrated to have fulfilled a gap-filling role in our law, much like the diverse doctrines of equity have done. The book questions the underlying basis for unjust enrichment theories and demonstrates their inadequacy as descriptions and explanations of restitution. The book then sets out alternative methods of organising and rationalising the topics of restitution. The approach adopted rejects an explanation of liability in restitution on the basis of a defendant's unjust enrichment and thus challenges much of the current academic and judicial writing the in the field. Instead, the approach adopted is to emphasise the relevance of a defendant's conduct in determining the nature and extent of any liability imposed.