A quasi-contract (or implied-in-law contract or constructive contract) is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

recognised by a court. The notion of a quasi-contract can be traced to

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

and is still a concept used in some modern legal systems. Quasi contract laws have been deduced from the Latin statement "Nemo debet locupletari ex aliena iactura", which proclaims that no one should grow rich out of another person's loss. It was one of the central doctrines of Roman law.

History

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

jurisdictions, the law of quasi-contract can be traced to the medieval

form of action The forms of action were the different procedures by which a legal claim could be made during much of the history of the English common law. Depending on the court, a plaintiff would purchase a writ in Chancery (or file a bill) which would set ...

known as '' indebitatus assumpsit''. In essence, the plaintiff would recover a money sum from the defendant ''as if'' the defendant had promised to pay it: that is, ''as if'' there were a contract subsisting between the parties. The defendant's promise—their agreement to be bound by the "contract"—was implied by law. The law of quasi-contract was generally used to enforce restitutionary obligations. The form of action known as ''indebitatus assumpsit'' came to include various sub-forms known as the common money counts. The most important of these for the later development of the law of quasi-contract included: (i) actions for

money had and received An action for money had and received to the plaintiff's use is the name for a common law claim derived from the form of action known as '' indebitatus assumpsit''. The action enabled one person to recover money which has been received by another: f ...

to the plaintiff's use; (ii) actions for money paid to the defendant's use; (iii) ''

quantum meruit is a Latin phrase meaning "what one has earned". In the context of contract law, it means something along the lines of "reasonable value of services". In the United States, the elements of ''quantum meruit'' are determined by state common law. ...

''; and (iv) '' quantum valebant''. Quasi-contractual actions were generally (but not exclusively) used to remedy what would now be called

unjust enrichment Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

. In most common law jurisdictions the law of quasi-contract has been superseded by the law of unjust enrichment.See generally, Mitchell et al, '' Goff & Jones Law of Unjust Enrichment'' (8th ed, 2011); Carter et al, ''Mason & Carter's Restitution Law in Australia'' (2nd ed, 2008); Graham Virgo, ''The Principles of the Law of Restitution'' (3rd ed, 2015)

Quasi-contract and contract

A quasi-contract is distinct from a contract implied in fact and may be distinguished from an explicitly agreed contract. * ''Contract implied in fact.'' A person's assent to be bound by an agreement can be expressed or implied. In the latter case, assuming the requisite formalities for a valid contract are met, there is a perfectly normal contract. The only distinction between a contract arising by express agreement between two people and a contract implied-in-fact is that the latter was recognized by a court drawing inferences from facts proved at trial. When the plaintiff sued on either sort of contract, he was suing in the law of contract in respect of a consensually assumed obligation and her remedy for the defendant's breach was damages. * ''Quasi-contract''. In contrast, quasi-contract refers to situations in which a defendant is bound ''as if'' there were a contract. When the plaintiff sued on such a 'contract' by bringing an action of ''indebitatus assumpsit'', he was not enforcing some consensually assumed obligation, but rather an obligation imposed by law.

History

Quasi-contract and contract

See also

Notes

References

Further reading