ABSTRACT
Under the general rule damages for breach of contract are measured by the loss which the plaintiff has suffered from the breach, not by the profits which the defendant has gained from it. The defendants had built a number of houses in breach of a restrictive covenant enforceable in equity by the plaintiff, the neighbouring landowner. Some commentators have criticised the limitations in English law on the award of restitutionary damages for breach of contract. One limitation suggested by the Court of Appeal is that the exception should not be based on the defendant’s moral culpability alone. Thus the facts that the breach of contract is deliberate and cynical will not by itself be a good ground for departing from the general rule. In Snepp the constructive trust was imposed because the court held that Snepp had been in breach of a fiduciary duty.
