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Steve Hedley has an uncanny ability, if that is the right word, to claim victory from the jaws of defeat. Witness his comments on unjust factors. He claims that

'a theory of "unjust factors" is simply an academic idea'

which forms no part of actual law. Astonishingly, he says that the proof lies in the results of his LEXIS search for that exact phrase. Presumably, that search did not bring to Hedley's attention Portman Building Society v Hamlyn Taylor Neck (a firm) [1998] 4 All ER 202. At 206 Millett LJ, now Lord Millett, said:

"... any claim to restitution raises the questions (1) Has the defendant been enriched? (2) If so, is his enrichment unjust? (3) Is his enrichment at the expense of the plaintiff? There are several factors which make it unjust for a defendant to retain the benefit of his enrichment; mistake is one of them."

No doubt Hedley will say ' Ah! There! You see? The word "factors" comes *before* the word unjust!'

 _________________
Jonathon Moore
Christ Church College
Oxford OX1 1DP UK