ABSTRACT
In chapter 2 we considered the proposition that the law of trusts is drawn from general principles of equity and that equity itself is derived from a combination of philosophical principles of achieving just results in individual cases and as an expression of the history of the Chancery’s jurisdiction in England and Wales. A key concept in that discussion was that of ‘justice’: an idea which we identified as being a complex one in the works of Aristotle1 and susceptible of various definitions in the context of social justice as applied to rights in the home.2 In this chapter we turn to consider the putative law of restitution of unjust enrichment which itself contains this term ‘just’ but without any of the detailed discussion of the meaning of that concept, and no concept equivalent to the concept of ‘conscience’ in the equitable context.3
