Farewell to unjustified enrichment?

The meeting will be held in the Institute of European and Comparative Law Teaching Room, Paradise Square, Oxford. A sandwich lunch will be available from 12.30.

Organised jointly with the Obligations Discussion Group.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make accessible to an English-speaking audience the historical background and present state of unjustified enrichment theory in the German-speaking civilian legal systems – ie in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It will be seen that German law of unjustified enrichment has grown from two intellectually separate roots: it is based on different legal ideas that were interwoven during the 19^th century by the German Pandectists. During the 20^th century, it turned out that those ideas do not fit well with one another. The modern civilian law of unjustified enrichment is thus breaking into increasingly independent different parts. In particular, the rules on unwinding contracts and on payments made in contemplation of future contracts, have not much in common anymore with claims based on an infringement upon another person’s property right.

Professor Jansen's paper on this subject can be read here.