Complete and detailed Law of Unjustified Enrichment notes. Includes detailed class notes, relevant textbook summaries, in depth case summaries and lecturer's test/exam tips and examples. Notes are set out in an organised, structured manner making it easy to understand.
Contents
1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................3
Basic Features of South African Enrichment Law...............................................................................3
The Constitutional Dimension..........................................................................................................11
2 General Requirements or Elements of Enrichment Liability.............................................................13
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................13
The Defendant Must be Enriched....................................................................................................13
Plaintiff must be Impoverished........................................................................................................15
Defendant must be Enriched at Plaintiff’s Expense.........................................................................17
Defendant must be Enriched without Legal Ground (Sine Causa)...................................................18
3 Enrichment Law and Related Disciplines..........................................................................................21
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................21
The Law of Contract: Contractual Restitutionary Claims.................................................................21
Remedies Provided by Property Law...............................................................................................33
Delictual Remedies..........................................................................................................................33
4 The Specific Enrichment Actions: Field of Application......................................................................35
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................35
First Category of Specific Actions: Enrichment by Transfer or Deliberately ‘Giving’ to Another with
a Purpose that Fails..........................................................................................................................36
The Transfer That is Not Owed/Undue: Condictio Indebiti..........................................................37
The Transfer Made for a Future Lawful Purpose, other than Fulfilling an Obligation: the
Condictio Causa Data Causa non Secuta......................................................................................73
The Transfer Made with an Unlawful Purpose.............................................................................82
Other Transfers without Legal Ground........................................................................................93
Second Category of Specific Actions: Enrichment Imposed on Another........................................115
Introduction...............................................................................................................................115
Unauthorised Improvements of Another’s Property.................................................................115
Unauthorised Payment of Another’s Debt.................................................................................131
Enrichment and the Extended Action Based on Manging Another’s Affairs..............................132
5 Third Category of Specific Actions: Enrichment by ‘Taking’ from Another.....................................135
Introduction...................................................................................................................................135
Examples........................................................................................................................................138
6 The Measure (Quantum) of Enrichment Liability............................................................................143
Introduction...................................................................................................................................143
Measuring the Defendant’s Enrichment........................................................................................144
1
,Measuring Plaintiff’s Impoverishment...........................................................................................145
Exclusion of the Defence of Loss of Enrichment............................................................................146
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................149
2
,1 INTRODUCTION
Basic Features of South African Enrichment Law
- Unusual concept
- Where does it fit in?
o Private law
- Relationship with other areas of the law as set out by Gaius in RDL
o Need to know what a person is, and then what type of relationships persons can
have
Res
Things of value
Persons can have things of value
o Res (things of value)
Tangible things
Intangible things
Obligation
o Duty to perform
o Arising from
Contract
Voluntary obligation to perform
Delict
Involuntary obligation to pay damages
Other source
Unjustified enrichment
o Obligation of restitution
o Does not arise from contract or
delict necessarily
o Arises by law
- Examples
o Have to pay R100 according to contract and accidentally pay R200
o People obtain funds as consequence of fraud or theft
o Improvement of another’s property by mistake
Might think it is your property or think there is valid contract
- Terminology
o Unjustified enrichment
No justification/basis
Eg no valid contract
Unjustified enrichment
Not ‘unjust’ enrichment
Not unfounded enrichment
Law of restitution
English law, not SA law
Wrongful enrichment
People aren’t necessarily liable for acting wrongfully
- Purpose/basis of enrichment liability
o Aristotle: types of justice
Corrective justice
3
, Justice which is served by balancing out something or correcting
something
Law of delict justified by this
o Somebody committed a wrongful act
o Justice served by compensation
Flipside is to balance out gains that are unacceptable
o Example accidentally pay twice
Distributive justice
Justice in the way in which honours and benefits are distributed
within society
Distribution of wealth, of honours, etc
It would be just to give it to those who deserve it more than others
o Don’t give a millionaire a house
- How is it determined when to correct enrichment?
o Equitable discretion?
Judges must decide when this obligation must be imposed by using an
equitable discretion
Based on their idea of fair and equity
Pomponius
Articulated a broad principle that said it is fair that nobody should
be enriched at the detriment to another
DuP 2 fn 8
But has been accepted that this is not the answer to our question of
whether it is fair
Just using fairness as standard is problematic
If dad gives all inheritance to only one son, must that son give some
to the other son?
Too uncertain
How do you determine which values we receive has to be given to
someone else?
Von Gierke
Jurist who said that when you approach enrichment law you
approach the threshold of the most holy
o Area of law which has equitable purpose
o But not the way we approach things
o Rules: SA law
Specific enrichment actions
Eg condictio indebti
General requirements/elements of enrichment liability
Control function
Have to always meet these general requirements
- No general enrichment action
o Unlike law of delict
There is a general form of Aquilian liability
Checklist of general requirements
If you meet them, you have a claim in delict
o Should we have a general enrichment action? Why do we have specific actions?
4
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