ABSTRACT
In the following two chapters we will turn our attention to one of the most versatile of all the forms of the trust concept: the constructive trust. Indeed, so versatile is this concept in the modern law that there really are several types of constructive trusts, all of which bear the same name, but which do not necessarily share the same characteristics or serve the same purposes, save only that they all arise by operation of law consequent upon some defect of conscience on the part of the constructive trustee. In this particular chapter, we will consider two specific kinds of constructive trusts. First, there is the constructive trust that is imposed on a trustee or other fiduciary as a consequence of that person using his or her position to make a personal profit or gain. In essence, this constructive trust requires the trustee or fiduciary to hold to account any such profits on trust for the beneficiaries or persons to whom the fiduciary duties are owed, see Crown Dilmun Ltd v Sutton (2004). It is in the nature both of a remedy against the trustee/fiduciary for unauthorised activities and a safeguard that ensures that she acts for the benefit of the trust and not for herself. Secondly, we shall consider the particular principles applicable to the acquisition of interests in land where a person claims a share in a matrimonial or quasi-matrimonial home belonging in law to another. This species of constructive trust is in the nature of a remedy against the legal owner of property, against whom the constructive trust is deployed, in order to achieve equity between the parties.
