Genesis and progression of obligations, arising from unjust enrichment: comparative law research

Abstract

Introduction. The article presents a comparative legal analysis of the genesis of the institution of obligations arising from unjust enrichment in countries belonging to different legal families. English and American law as vivid examples of the precedent system of law were chosen for comparison. The comparative research revealed the general and special features of the institution under study, as well as the trends in its functioning and development.Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the research consists of the general scientific and special methods of cognition of legal phenomena and processes in the sphere of international private law: the method of the system-structural analysis; the method of synthesis of social and legal phenomena; the comparative legal method; the formal-logical method; the historical method and others.Results of the study. The results of the research revealed that the institution of obligations arising from unfounded enrichment was embodied in the 20th century in the laws of Russia, the UK and the USA, but still remains at the stage of active development. Formation of the unjust enrichment institution was based in the named countries on the sameprinciples borrowed from Roman law. This approach made a basis for uniformity in the definition of the concept and the actual composition of the unjust enrichment institution. A significant difference in functioning of the unjust enrichment institution was revealed in the mechanism of rights protection.Discussion and conclusion. The institution of obligations arising from the unjust enrichment is a unique institute of civil law that provides for the fullest realization of a person’s right to protection. This legal institution continues to develop, to which the study of its genesis and a foreign experience contributes immensely.