The Laws of Restitution

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Prof Robert Stevens (Professor of Private Law, Professor of Private Law, University of Oxford)

The Laws of Restitution

Prof Robert Stevens (Professor of Private Law, Professor of Private Law, University of Oxford)

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English

Oxford University Press
23 May 2025

In The Laws of Restitution, Robert Stevens seeks to show that there is no unified law of restitution or unjust enrichment. This is in contrast to the traditional view of restitution which has long been thought to be reducible to a single ""unjust enrichment"".

The author proposes that there are instead (depending on how you count them) seven or eight different kinds of private law claim, none of which have anything important in common one with another, that have been grouped together by commentators. Few of these claims have anything to do with enrichment, and what is restituted differs between them. Like all private law claims, those gathered here concern (in)justice between individuals, but they have no further unity. Many of them are not based upon an agreement or a wrong, but that negative feature has no utility. As such, Stevens argues that ""restitution"" or ""unjust enrichment"" should cease to be discussed as unified areas of law.

In this work, Stevens identifies and describes the various reasons for ""restitution"" that any properly constructed system of private law ought to recognise. He also explains how the law of restitution relates to, and is bound up with, areas of contract, torts, equity, and property law.

By: Prof Robert Stevens (Professor of Private Law Professor of Private Law University of Oxford)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 245mm, Width: 172mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 846g
ISBN: 9780198945406
ISBN 10: 019894540X
Pages: 496
Publication Date: 23 May 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword Preface Part I Introduction 1: Summary 2: Foundations Part II Unjustified Performance 3: Performance 4: Reversal 5: Theory 6: Practice Part III Conditional Performance 7: Conditions 8: Contract Part IV Intervention in Another's Affairs 9: Discharge 10: Necessity Part V Property and Trusts 11: Things 12: Equity: General 13: Equity: Restitution 14: Improvements Part VI Wrongdoing 15: Wrongs 16: Profits 17: Damages Part VII Countervailing Reasons 18: Defences 19: Illegality Part VIII Apologia 20: Conclusion

Robert Stevens is the Herbert Smith Freehills Professor of English Private Law at the University of Oxford. Previously he was a Professor of commercial law at UCL, a lecturer in law at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Lady Margaret Hall. He is also a commercial barrister and has published widely on many aspects of private law, always seeking to show how the theory of academic law has practical relevance to the law as found in the courts. He is the author of Torts and Rights (OUP, 2007).

Reviews for The Laws of Restitution

The book will be useful for similar reasons to Australian practitioners and judges, especially because in the areas of law addressed Australian authority is often thin and English authority persuasive. * Sydney Law Review *