The Law of Unjust Enrichment in Hong Kong - Second Edition

The law of unjust enrichment, although now thirty years of age, is the newest discrete cause of action at common law, and still the most easily confused and misunderstood. This confusion lies in its origins in the search for a unified law of restitution, a search which is now seemingly abandoned or at least no longer as fervently pursued by its academic and jurist adherents. As arguably the most useful legacy of this quest for a unified law of restitution, the law of unjust enrichment has been clarified and developed in Hong Kong and England.

This revised and expanded edition retains the consideration of the theoretical underpinnings of the law of unjust enrichment. This includes its historical development from the common counts via creative equitable interpretation of the common law by Lord Mansfield in the eighteenth century and civil law informed academic development of the common law by Lord Goff in the twentieth.

The second edition considers developments in England but focuses on the practical use of the doctrine in Hong Kong and possible developments and issues with unjust enrichment in this jurisdiction.