Postgraduate Course: Comparative Unjustified Enrichment Law (LAWS11239)

Course Outline
School	School of Law	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This course examines the nature of the obligation of unjustified enrichment, and its related restitutionary remedies. There will be an examination of the Roman law origins of the idea of unjustified enrichment, and its development in the medieval ius commune. The principal focus will be on the modern law of a number of European systems, including Scotland, England, and Germany, these systems being compared and contrasted with each other. The elements of a claim in each jurisdiction will be analysed, as well as the remedies and defences to an action. Possible future harmonisation of unjustified enrichment will be considered, particularly in the light of model private law codes such as the Draft Common Frame of Reference. As a subsidiary but related issue, the course will also consider the obligation of negotiorum gestio. A prior knowledge of the basics of unjustified enrichment would be useful, but is not essential.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered

Learning Outcomes
The course aims to familiarise students with the principle of unjustified enrichment, and the various actions based upon that principle, within an historical and comparative perspective. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon the difference in approach between the jurisdictions studied, and to formulate ideas about possible ideal approaches in the field. They will also be encouraged to see how unjustified enrichment relates to the other obligations and to related fields such as property and trust law. They will develop oral skills in class discussions, as well as the critical faculties required for advanced legal research and writing.