UNJUST ENRICHMENT AND DEFERRED FARM-IN AGREEMENTS: IS THE FARMEE 'BETTING THE FARM'?

摘要

In 1987, the High Court of Australia introduced the principle of unjust enrichment into Australia s common law in the landmark decision ofPavey & Matthew v Paul. In this case, the High Court said that the claim of quantum meruit was not based on the legal fiction of implied contract, but on a new doctrine called unjust enrichment, thereby providing a conceptual framework for the analysis of other forms ofrestitutionary claims. However, in the twenty-five years since this breakthrough, the High Court has been inconsistent on the subject, approving and expanding the doctrine in some cases and wavering between ignoring and rejecting it in others.