Unjustified Enrichment

Unjustified Enrichment is a colliery of the other parts of the Scottish Law of Obligations. It is where one person has benefited in property or money through actions or circumstances which the law sees as unjust, at the expense of another person.

Defining
Perhaps the most pure definition of unjustified enrichment is in Dollar Land (Cumbernauld) v CIN Properties Ltd (1997).

"The persuers must show the defenders have been enriched at their expense, that there is no legal justification for the enrichment, and that it would be equitable to compel the defenders to redress their enrichment"

Enrichment at anothers' expense is presumed to be unjustified unless there is some reason why it isn't, or some reason why the defender should be allowed to retain the gain. Enrichment sine causa need to be returned.

Shilliday v Smith (1998) indicates that the

Examples
Royal Bank of Scotland v Watt (1991) - Payment of money to the wrong person because of Fraud.

McDowel v McDowel (1906) - Improving another persons property.

Types of Enrichment

 * Enrichment by Transfer
 * Deliberate conferral of an item, money, or service to another.


 * Conductiio Indebiti - The transfer done was not due (e.g. - paying a bill that isn't valid, void contract, or to the wrong person).
 * Conductio causa data causa non secuta - Transfer made for a future purpose which is no longer relevant.

Justified terms for Enrichment

 * Contract
 * Gifts and Donations
 * Succession
 * Court Order
 * Statute (e.g. - tax).

Remedies
Showing that an enrichment is unjustified is not enough, to be successful in a claim the persuer is also required to show that the proposed remedy is equitable. A good faith possessor or where the remedy is unfair to one of the parties might result in the claim failing.

There are three main remedies to a claim of unjustified enrichment


 * Restitution - The return or transfer of property
 * Repetition - The return or transfer of money
 * Recompense - Other services or benefits

Typically the remedy would mirror the way the form of the enrichment, if possible - Transfer of a thing would see the thing transferred back; transfer of money would see money transferred back. Where this isn't possible (such as for services), repetition is usually given to the value of the item.