ABSTRACT
A constructive trust as distinct from express and resulting trusts, 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 trusts is the prevention of unjust enrichment at the expense of an innocent party. The constructive trust forms a residual category of trusts which is called into play whenever the court desires to impose a trust and no other category of trusts is suitable. The courts reserve to themselves the power to interpret a transaction as giving rise to a constructive trust. The court 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 interest of justice a trust ought to be imposed.
