Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3150: Unjust Enrichment

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level 6
Credits 15 ECTS Value 7.5
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 1 (12 weeks)

Academic staff

Dr Nathan Tamblyn (Lecturer)

Pre-requisites

Law of Contract (LAW1004)

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

No

If you pay someone under a contract, and get nothing of what was promised in return, should you get your money back? If you give someone a generous gift, but only because they exerted an undue influence over you, should it be returned? If you pay too much tax by mistake, should you get the extra refunded? If the answer is yes, then the mechanism is the law of unjust enrichment, and that is why we have it. This is a young cause of action, but it has fast grown in popularity because its restitutionary remedy can be powerful: instead of recovering compensation for your losses, you get to take the profit made by the wrongdoer. This is an important area of study for anyone looking to complete their understanding of contract law in particular and the law of obligations in general. It is also interesting in its own right, based as it is primarily upon situations which call for moral judgments as to whether an enrichment can be labelled ‘unjust’. The Law of Contract (LAW1004) is a compulsory pre-requisite. This module is not suitable for non-lawyers.

Module created

31/10/2014

Last revised

31/10/2014