ABSTRACT
When viewed from the position of the law of actions, the distinction between debt and damages is not only fundamental in the English law of remedies but is a distinction that can also act as a good guide when it comes to the classification of non-contractual obligations.27 For the distinction between debt and damages reflects in English law, just as it did in Roman law, a difference between unjust loss and unjust benefit. The action of debt, like the Roman condictio, can be used to claim money in situations where a defendant has obtained a benefit which it would be unjust for him to retain.28 The action for damages, although it can be used to prevent unjust enrichment, has been fashioned mainly to deal with problems of compensation, and so is more suitable for dealing with problems of loss and injury. Non-contractual debt actions might, then, be said to form the basis of quasi-contract, while non-contractual damages might be seen as the basis of delictual liability – that is to say, the law of tort.
