Unjust Enrichment (Book Review‪)‬

Unjust Enrichment by Peter Birks (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) pages i-x*x, 1-274. Price A$82.95 (softcover). ISBN 0 19 926968 8. [The supposed unity of unjust enrichment has come under many attacks from writers who suggest that it is illusory. It is also rife with internal controversy amongst those who agree that it displays uniformity but cannot agree on how that uniformity should be characterised. Unjust Enrichment, Birks' new restatement of the theory, stakes out a distinctive position in these debates', with his own defence of its coherence. It contains much that is familiar, but also some striking innovations. Chief amongst these is Birks' repudiation of the 'unjust factors ', and his restriction of his theory to the English legal system. This' review essay sketches the current state of the theory, locates Birks' arguments within the debates surrounding it, and considers their merits. It concludes that while Birks has done an excellent job in stating a broad unitary theory, the irreducible complexity of the result calls the merits of the entire enterprise into doubt.]