ABSTRACT
A constructive trust, as distinct from an express or resulting trust, is not created in accordance with the express or implied intention of the settlor. It is a device created by the courts in the interests of justice and good conscience. The rationale for the creation of such a trust is the prevention of unjust enrichment at the expense of an innocent party. The constructive trust forms a residual category of trust which is called into play whenever the court desires to impose a trust and no other category of trust is suitable. The court reserves to itself the power to interpret a transaction as giving rise to a constructive trust. It will have regard to all the circumstances surrounding a transaction and, in particular, the conduct of the relevant parties in order to decide whether in the interests of justice a trust ought to be imposed.
