restitution
American Heritage Dictionary:
Top
res·ti·tu·tion
(rĕs'tĭ-tū'shən, -tyū'-) 
n.
n.
- The act of restoring to the rightful owner something that has been taken away, lost, or surrendered. See synonyms at reparation.
- The act of making good or compensating for loss, damage, or injury; indemnification.
- A return to or restoration of a previous state or position.
Barron's Business Dictionary:
Top
restitution
Act of making good or of giving the equivalent for loss, damage, or injury.
| Restatement, Responsibility, Response Projection | |
| Restraining Order, Restraint Oftrade, Restraint On Alienation |
Roget's Thesaurus:
Top
restitution
noun
- Something to make up for loss or damage: amends, compensation, indemnification, indemnity, offset, quittance, recompense, redress, reimbursement, remuneration, reparation, repayment, requital, satisfaction, setoff. See substitute.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
Top
restitution
n
Definition: compensation, repayment
Antonyms: dissatisfaction, fee, penalty, taking
West's Encyclopedia of American Law:
Top
Restitution
This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.
In the context of criminal law, state programs under which an offender is required, as a condition of his or her sentence, to repay money or donate services to the victim or society; with respect to maritime law, the restoration of articles lost by jettison, done when the remainder of the cargo has been saved, at the general charge of the owners of the cargo; in the law of torts, or civil wrongs, a measure of damages; in regard to contract law, the restoration of a party injured by a breach of contract to the position that party occupied before she or he entered the contract.
The general term restitution describes the act of restoration. The term is used in different areas of the law but carries the same meaning throughout.
The basic purpose of restitution is to achieve fairness and prevent the unjust enrichment of a party. Restitution is used in contractual situations where one party has conferred a benefit on another party but cannot collect payment because the contract is defective or no contract exists. For instance, assume that a person builds a barn on the property of another person. Assume further that the structure is not erected pursuant to a contract or agreement and that the owner of the property on which the barn sits refuses to pay the builder for the barn. Despite the absence of a contract, a court can order the owner to pay the builder the cost of the labor and materials under the doctrine of restitution.
Courts in seventeenth century England first developed the doctrine of restitution as a contractual remedy. The concept migrated to courts in the United States, and it has since expanded beyond its original contractual roots. Courts now apply restitution in the areas of maritime or admiralty law, criminal law, and torts. In admiralty law restitution may be ordered when a shipping crew must throw goods overboard to keep the ship afloat. In such a case the owner of the jettisoned goods may gain some recovery for the goods from the owners of the other cargo under the doctrine of restitution.
In criminal law restitution is a regular feature in the sentences of criminal defendants. Restitution in the criminal arena refers to an affirmative performance by the defendant that benefits either the victim of the crime or the general public. If a victim can be identified, a judge will order the defendant to make restitution to the victim. For example, if a defendant is convicted of stealing a person's stereo, the defendant may be sentenced to reimburse the victim for the value of the stereo, in addition to punishment such as jail time and monetary fines.
Courts try to fashion the restitution of a criminal defendant according to the crime committed. For example, a defendant convicted of solicitation of prostitution may be ordered to perform work for a local shelter for battered women as a form of restitution to the general public.
In tort law restitution applies to the measure of damages required to restore the plaintiff to the position he or she held prior to the commission of the tort. For example, if a person is injured by another person, the injured party may collect medical expenses and lost wages as restitutionary damages. Other civil damages are distinct from restitutionary damages because they are not based on the amount required to restore the injured party to his or her former status. Punitive damages, for example, are damages assessed against a civil defendant for the purpose of punishing the defendant's conduct, not to provide restitution.
US Defense Department Military Dictionary:
Top
restitution
(DOD, NATO) The process of determining the true planimetric position of objects whose images appear on photographs.
Word Tutor:
Top
restitution
IN BRIEF: Giving something back to the rightful owner or returning something to its original value or condition.
Did the home owners receive restitution for the fire damage?
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'restitution'
- Decisions, Judgments, and Conditions - restitution: restoration to rightful owner; making good or providing equivalent for some harm
- Economics and Economic Theory - restitution: making good for a loss; giving back something to rightful owner
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Restitution
For the physics term representing energy lost in a collision, see Coefficient of restitution.
 |
This article is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (April 2010) |
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court orders restitution it orders the defendant to give up his gains to the claimant. When a court orders compensation it orders the defendant to compensate the claimant for his or her loss.
This type of damages restores the benefit conferred to the non-breaching party (the plaintiff). Simply, the plaintiff will get the value of whatever was conferred to the defendant when there was a contract. There are two general limits to recovery, which is that a complete breach of contract is needed, and the damages will be capped at the contract price if the restitution damages exceed it.
The orthodox view suggests that there is only one principle on which the law of restitution is dependent, namely the principle of unjust enrichment.[1][2] However, the view that restitution, like other legal responses, can be triggered by any one of a variety of causative events is increasingly prevalent. These are events in the real world which trigger a legal response. It is beyond doubt that unjust enrichment and wrongs can trigger an obligation to make restitution. Certain commentators propose that there is a third basis for restitution, namely the vindication of property rights with which the defendant has interfered.[3] It is arguable that other types of causative event can also trigger an obligation to make restitution.
|
Contents
|
Restitution for wrongs
| Judicial remedies |
|---|
| Legal remedies (Damages) |
| Equitable remedies |
|
| Related issues |
Imagine that A commits a wrong against B and B sues in respect of that wrong. A will certainly be liable to pay compensation to B. If B seeks compensation then the court award will be measured by reference to the loss that B has suffered as a result of A’s wrongful act. However, in certain circumstances it will be open to B to seek restitution rather than compensation. It will be in his interest to do so if the profit that A made by his wrongful act is greater than the loss suffered by B.
Whether or not a claimant can seek restitution for a wrong depends to a large extent on the particular wrong in question. For example, in English law, restitution for breach of fiduciary duty is widely available but restitution for breach of contract is fairly exceptional. The wrong could be of any one of the following types:
- A statutory tort
- A common law tort
- An equitable wrong
- A breach of contract
- Criminal offences
Notice that (1)-(5) are all causative events (see above). The law responds to each of them by imposing an obligation to pay compensatory damages. Restitution for wrongs is the subject which deals with the issue of when exactly the law also responds by imposing an obligation to make restitution.
Example. In Attorney General v Blake [2001] 1 AC 268, an English court found itself faced with the following claim. The defendant had made a profit somewhere in the region of £60,000 as a direct result of breaching his contract with the claimant. The claimant was undoubtedly entitled to claim compensatory damages but had suffered little or no identifiable loss. It therefore decided to seek restitution for the wrong of breach of contract. The claimant won the case and the defendant was ordered to pay over his profits to the claimant. However, the court was careful to point out that the normal legal response to a breach of contract is to award compensation. An order to make restitution was said to be available only in exceptional circumstances.
Restitution to reverse unjust enrichment
Main article: Unjust enrichment
Cases of intentional torts or breaches of fiduciary duty often allow for claims of unjust enrichment, as well as cases of statutory torts and breaches of contract. A plaintiff can even have a claim in unjust enrichment when there is no other substantive claim. The Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") entitles a buyer who defaults restitution of the buyer's deposit to the extent it exceeds reasonable liquidated damages or actual damages.[4] If the contract does not have a liquidated damages clause, the UCC provides a statutory sum: 20% of the price or $500, whichever is less, and the buyer who defaulted is entitled to restitution of any excess.
See also
Notes
- ^ Virgo, Graham (2006). The Principles of the Law of Restitution. New York: OUP. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-19-929850-1.
- ^ Goff; Jones (2002). The Law of Restitution 6th edn. London: Sweet and Maxwell. p. 3.
- ^ Virgo, Graham (2006). The Principles of the Law of Restitution. New York: OUP. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-19-929850-1.
- ^ http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/article2.htm#s2-718 UCC §2-718]]
References
- Charles Mitchell and Paul Mitchell, Landmark Cases in the Law of Restitution (Hart, 2006), essays on legal history.
- Peter Birks, Unjust Enrichment (2nd Ed, Clarendon, Oxford, 2005)
- A Burrows, J Edelman and E McKendrick, Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution (2nd Ed, OUP, Oxford, 2007)
- Graham Virgo, The Principles of the Law of Restitution (2nd Ed, OUP, New York, 2006)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Top
Restitution
Dansk (Danish)
n. - tilbagelevering, erstatning, helbredelse
idioms:
- make restitution yde erstatning
Nederlands (Dutch)
teruggave, compensatie, herstel
Français (French)
n. - (gén, Jur) restitution
idioms:
- make restitution restituer
Deutsch (German)
n. - Rückgabe, Ersatz, Wiederherstellung, Wiedergutmachung
idioms:
- make restitution erstatten, Ersatz leisten
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αποκατάσταση, απόδοση, επιστροφή (στο δικαιούχο)
idioms:
- make restitution αποκαθιστώ, αποζημιώνω
Italiano (Italian)
risarcimento
idioms:
- make restitution risarcire
Português (Portuguese)
n. - restituição (f)
idioms:
- make restitution devolver
Русский (Russian)
возвращение, возмещение
idioms:
- make restitution возместить
Español (Spanish)
n. - restitución, indemnización
idioms:
- make restitution indemnizar
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - återlämnande, restitution, vederlag
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
归还, 赔偿, 偿还
idioms:
- make restitution 作出赔偿损失
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 歸還, 賠償, 償還
idioms:
- make restitution 作出賠償損失
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 반환, 손해 배상, 복직
idioms:
- make restitution 반환하다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 返却, 損害賠償, 復位, 復旧, 回復
idioms:
- make restitution 賠償をする
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) إعادة أو عودة وضع إلى السابق, تعويض, الرجوع
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - פיצוי, הישבון, החזרה, השבה
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Barron's Business Dictionary
Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
West's Encyclopedia of American Law
West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
US Defense Department Military Dictionary
US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003.
Read more
Word Tutor
Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free. Read more
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free. Read more
Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
All rights reserved.
Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Restitution.
Read more
