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Category Archives: Restitution

Restitution for wrongs and child pornography

February 3, 2010 – 9:01 pm

A friend alerted to me to an interesting case reported in the New York Times involving monetary restitution to a victim of child pornography  who goes by the pseudonym “Amy”.
When she was 8 or 9 years old, Amy’s uncle had filmed her in a series of pornographic photographs known as the “Misty” series. Amy is [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Equity, Human/Civil rights, Law, Society, anthony daniels | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (16)

When is a trust not a trust?

October 19, 2009 – 5:45 pm

Via the Restitution Discussion Group (yes, there really is such a thing), I hear that the Australian High Court has indulged in yet another snark at unjust enrichment. Is it just me, or are these self-righteous little rants getting boring?
The case is Bofinger v Kingsway Group Limited [2009] HCA 44. The issue raised is an [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Equity, Insolvency law, Law, Northern Ireland, Wales, scotland | Tagged , , , | Comments (15)

Ooops, too many zeros…

May 22, 2009 – 12:13 pm

In the Sydney Morning Herald today:
A New Zealand couple who fled the country after receiving millions of dollars in a banking error may have had a 16-day head start on police.
It also emerged the couple may now be in China, and that other family members were also missing.
The unnamed couple, believed to be Asian man [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Fark!, Law | Comments (18)

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak…

May 6, 2009 – 9:06 am

I was at an event for restitution lawyers the other day, when one of the academics present made a good point. She said that she thought restitution lawyers had “tidy minds”. They wanted the law to be tidy. I think she is absolutely correct. The desire is that like cases be treated alike, regardless of [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Equity, Law | Tagged , | Comments (36)

The Amazing Disappearing Assets

March 12, 2009 – 2:19 pm

Anyone who has a superannuation fund or the like has probably watched their assets drop in value to a massive degree over the last year or so. Right now I’m glad I don’t have my money tied up in shares.
The drop has been so sharp that it has produced some interesting legal problems. Take, for [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Marriage | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

Efficient breach canned by HCA

February 13, 2009 – 8:31 pm

What happens when you sign a contract? How binding is it? Can you force the other side to perform their side of the bargain?
Non-lawyers might be surprised to learn that from the perspective of contractual remedies, the principal remedy is damages, with specific performance of the contractual obligation said to be a secondary remedy when [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Economics, Equity, Law | Tagged , , , | Comments (15)

Investment scheme collapses give rise to equitable and restitutionary claims

January 25, 2009 – 8:21 pm

I must be behind the eight-ball at the moment – how else could I have missed Eoin’s post at Cearta.ie on restitutionary liability and Bernie Madoff’s failed investment schemes?
The Madoff case involves an alleged Ponzi scheme, or a scheme where early investors are actually being paid money received from later investors rather than true dividends. [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Economics, Equity, Law | Comments (25)

Restitution lawyers of Australia, be on notice

November 25, 2008 – 11:30 am

There may be a whole string of cases coming your way?! In news today, it was reported that the Commonwealth Bank online banking has been thrown into chaos:
Turmoil has hit the Commonwealth Bank’s online banking system after it duplicated customer transactions.
The double-up, caused by an overnight processing error, has affected NetBank customers, the bank said [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Equity, Insolvency law, Law | Comments (24)

Kirby J takes a parting shot at Equity gurus on High Court

November 22, 2008 – 5:24 pm

In a recent speech delivered at Queensland University of Technology, Kirby J has delivered a rebuke to the Equity gurus on the High Court, namely Gummow and Heydon JJ. The title of the speech itself is stinging enough: ‘Equity’s Australian isolationism’.
Kirby J mounts a three-pronged attack on the approach of the current High Court to [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Equity, Law | Comments (4)

“Subjective devaluation”

November 5, 2008 – 7:19 pm

“Subjective devaluation” is the principle which applies in unjust enrichment law when you are provided with an unwanted service, and the provider then demands that you pay – you should be able to argue that you have not been unjustly enriched because you never wanted the service in the first place.
Whenever I am trying to [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law | Comments (3)