General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3048 |
| Course name: | Law of Restitution |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
There is no universal definition as to what restitution (either as a body of law, or as a legal concept) encapsulates. It is often understood as the area of law which provides a remedy to a plaintiff against a defendant who is alleged to have obtained some gain (e.g. money or property) unlawfully. The notion of gain-based remedy is contrasted with that of loss-based remedy, which deals with compensation for loss suffered by a plaintiff as a result of a defendant’s action or omission.
Traditionally, the study of restitution has simply referred to unjust enrichment. Unjust enrichment occurs when a plaintiff complains that a defendant obtains a benefit at his expense. But theoretical debates may no longer accept restitution as merely congruent with unjust enrichment. Some academics (eg Graham Virgo at University of Cambridge) argue that restitution covers 3 areas of law: (i) unjust enrichment; (ii) restitution for wrongs; and (iii) vindication of property rights. This categorisation will be further discussed in subsequent seminar(s).
Restitution (broadly defined) is an important component of civil law. Indeed, restitution can be understood as one of the 3 ways of creating legal obligations between (say) two parties, the other ways being contract and tort. In recent years, restitutionary principles have been applied in commercial contexts, testing their boundaries and their adaptability to modern day business.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | David Winterton | dwin@hku.hk | CCT 913 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
To be advised by course convenor(s).
2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation* | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Option 1 Research essay (6,000 words) OR Option 2 |
Option 1: 80%
Option 2: 40% plus 40% |
1, 2, 3, 4 |
*There is no penalty for missing the first two seminars.
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/