Recognised as the ‘standard Australian work’ (Benson v Rational Entertainment Enterprises Ltd [2018] NSWCA 111 at [120]) and the ‘leading authority’ (David Campbell, ‘Bringing Down the Ceiling’ (2023) 1 CCLR 22), the 4th edition was described by Professor John McCamus as the ‘classic Australian treatise’ and ‘an excellent piece of legal scholarship’ (‘Review Essay: Two Views of Australian Restitution Law’ (2023) 67 CBLJ 256).
In this new edition the authors revisit and adjust earlier work, update and restate ‘the law’ in light of recent case law and statute law. Features of the new edition include:
- analysis of Redland City Council v Kozic [2024] HCA 7 (which incidentally opens with a quotation from the Preface to the second edition of Mason & Carter) and consequent rewriting of much of Part VIII, especially Chapter 25 (Consideration and Bona Fide Purchase)
- detailed discussion of the impact of dicta in Redland City Council on unjust enrichment analysis, including rejection of a defence labelled ‘recipient not unjustly enriched’ that is discussed in §62 of the Restatement of the Law Third, Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, 2010
- consideration of decisions in other jurisdictions, including: 1) the resounding rejection in Barton v Morris [2023] UKSC 3 of the contention that restitution should be awarded for a partially performed but effective contract, and 2) Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v Trinsalvage Enterprises Ltd [2023] UKPC 26, awarding a quantum meruit for services rendered under an ultra vires contract
- hundreds of new case references
- a full review of statutes
- account of important additions to the literature on restitution
