Counter-restitution

English and Australian lawyers tasked with defending claims for restitution of unjust enrichment will welcome the High Court's decision in 'Redland City Council v Kozic' [2024] HCA 7. The majority judgment of Gordon J., Edelman J. and Steward J. contains a rigorous analysis of the counter-restitution defence. If understood properly, it will bring clarity to this part of the law. There are only a few regrets. The dissenting judgment of Gageler C.J. and Jagot J. is hard to come to grips with. And the court was unanimous in its refusal to abandon the confusing "good consideration" label that the counter-restitution defence has acquired in Australia over the last few decades.