ABSTRACT
The present article revisits the formulation for the law of unjust enrichment as set out by the late Professor Peter Birks. It argues, from a theoretical perspective, that this formulation is framed at too general a level of abstraction. And, from an historical perspective, it argues, first, that the seminal work by Goff and Jones was never intended to formulate a new and systematic law of unjust enrichment. Secondly, this article also argues that the law of unjust enrichment as we know it today was strongly influenced by the civil law with an overlay of specific unjust factors. However, the aforementioned unjust factors were based on existing legal doctrines at law and in equity, thus giving rise to the argument that the law of unjust enrichment was (in substance) simply a rehash of existing law (thus rendering the law of restitution and unjust enrichment (in substance at least) redundant).
€ (Westlaw)
Andrew Phang, ‘Unjust enrichment revisited’ [2026] Journal of Business Law (6) 465-491.
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