Research On Some Problems In Application Of Law For Unjust Enrichment

Developing from the "condictio" in Roman law, unjust enrichment is one of the basic institutions in private law, boasting a history of more than two thousand years. As one of the causes of debt, unjust enrichment means that one gains profits without any legal reasons and causes others some losses. Unjust enrichment concerning foreign elements means that one gains profits without any legal reasons and causes others some losses in the international civil and commercial communication. Unjust enrichment in international private law contains the factors of foreign element. It is the extension and development of domestic civil law. The differences of theory and legislation between various countries cause the conflicts of unjust enrichment in constitution, type, cause, return range and so on. These conflicts make the characterization and application of law for unjust enrichment very difficult. So it is very important to characterize unjust enrichment concerning foreign elements and identify its applicable law. After analyzing some traditional characterization method, this thesis suggested that when characterizing unjust enrichment we should mainly base on the lex fori and take some other rules as supplements when needed. But how to characterize unjust enrichment concerning foreign elements is just the first step. What we finally have to do is to determine the applicable law for unjust enrichment. So, the thesis also analyzes the already existing application rules and compares their merits and shortcomings. Then the thesis draws a conclusion that when we determine the applicable law for unjust enrichment we should mainly base on the indirect application rules and take some other rules as supplements when needed. After that, the thesis analyzed the actuality of law application for unjust enrichment in our country and made some suggestions for the application of law for unjust enrichment. The thesis also makes a rule for the application of law for unjust enrichment, hoping that this can be helpful to the application of law for unjust enrichment concerning foreign elements in our country.