Scope of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, The

Restatement of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment" is the title adopted by the American Law Institute for the compilation of legal doctrines most recently completed under its auspices.1 The title is unwieldy and unfamiliar.Unlike the divisions of the Restatement heretofore published in definitive form, 2 this one does not at once bring to mind a well recognized division of the field of private law.To the bench and bar it may seem disturbingly novel.It is true that the words "restitution" and "unjust enrichment" are words of common speech, but they are words of vague and uncertain significance, and their vagueness is not clarified or restricted by familiar established usage which gives them meanings as words of art in the law.There is danger that this Restatement, when it is published in final form in the fall of 1936, 3 will speak to the legal profession not with the tongues of angels but with the voices of Babel.It would be most unfortunate if this Restatement were to attain only a succ~s d'estime.An examination of its scope and content will reveal that, far from being esoteric, it deals with some rather simple and basic notions of justice, that it has many applications to situations which arise in the ordinary affairs of life, and that its doctrines cut across almost the whole field of private *Columbia University Law School. 1.The Proposed Final Draft of the RESTATEMENT was presented to the Institute for approval at its Annual Meeting in May, 1936.The Proposed Final Draft is in two parts: Part I.The Right to Restitution, including Quasi Contractual and Kindred Equitable Relief.Part II.Constructive Trusts and Analogous Equitable Relief.The sections (1-215) are numbered consecutively in this draft, and it is expected that the official draft will be published in a single volume.Work on Part I was begun in June, 1933, and Tentative Draft No. 1 was presented to the Institute in May, 1935.The time which elapsed between the beginning and the completion of this RESTATEMENT was much less than that of the RESTATEMENTS previously completed.2.