Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

2001

Abstract

The present article surveys various issues in the law relating to the award of restitutionary damages in contract law, utilising as its point of focus the recent House of Lords decision in Attorney-General v Blake. It explores, in particular, two possible (albeit quite different) routes towards the recovery of such damages; the first based on the (more traditional) compensatory basis and the second on the (more controversial) restitutionary basis for disgorgement of the defendant's gain. While we argue that there is, on a more general level, no overriding objection in principle to the award of restitutionary damages for cynical breach of contract, this is still a rather controversial area. Looked at in this light, we suggest that the judicious award of restitutionary damages in situations where public policy requires it (such as, we argue, was the case in Blake itself) may be the preferable (albeit more modest) way forward.

Discipline

Contracts

Publication

Journal of Contract Law

Volume

17

Issue

3

First Page

240

Last Page

273

ISSN

1030-7230

Publisher

Butterworths

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Contracts Commons

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