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This module will develop students' analytical, critical, and expressive faculties, help them to dissect legal problems, and argue legal points clearly and convincingly.

By comparison with civilian legal systems, English law has been slow to recognise unjust enrichment as a source of rights and duties within the law of obligations. That step was not taken by the House of Lords until 1991. Since then a flood of claims has surged through the courts. In the 1990s the most important of these were prompted by the discovery that thousands of interest rate swap contracts entered by banks and local authorities were void; in the 2000s more claims were brought in the wake of ECJ declarations that parts of the UK tax regime were contrary to EU law. The resolution of these cases has required the courts to decide many fundamental questions relating to the law of unjust enrichment, but others still remain to be decided. The cumulative value of the sums at stake has run into billions of pounds, and it is now beyond question that a sound knowledge and understanding of the law in this area is essential for lawyers specialising in commercial litigation.

A claimant in unjust enrichment must show that the defendant was enriched, that his enrichment was gained at the claimant’s expense, and that his enrichment was unjust. When all three requirements are satisfied, the further question arises, whether there are any defences to the claim; if there are not, then the court must decide what remedy should be awarded. The court must also consider whether the defendant’s enrichment is justified by an overriding source of rights such as statute or contract, as in this case recovery will be denied although the claimant would otherwise be entitled to restitution. The module is arranged in line with this analytical structure. The seminar topics are set out below:

1. Unjust Enrichment and Restitution
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3. At the Claimant’s Expense
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5. Failure of Consideration
6. Lack of Consent and Want of Authority
7. Ultra Vires Payments and Receipts by Public Bodies Secondary Liability
8. Secondary Liability
9. Justifying Grounds
10. Remedies

Students who enjoyed contract, tort, and/or trusts, and who wish to take an advanced obligations course, may enjoy this module. So will those with an interest in commercial law. Each week students are expected to read textbook chapters, cases, and articles by way of preparation for discussion in seminars.

Reading lists and other materials will be provided for students registered on the module via online Moodle information pages.

Note: Where the class size for this module exceeds 24 students in any year, 4 (1-hour) tutorials will be added to the schedule, increasing the contact hours to 44 for each student.

Full module information is available in the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Module Catalogue.

·¡±ô¾±²µ¾±²ú¾±±ô¾±³Ù²â:ÌýThis module is only available to Final Year undergraduate students in the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Faculty of Laws.