Rationalising Restitutionary Damages in Contract Law: An Elusive or Illusory Ques

• Main Authors: PHANG, Andrew, LEE, Pey Woan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2001
• Subjects: Contracts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/651; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/1650/viewcontent/_Rationalising_Restitutionary_Damages__in_Co__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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.