Civil Code > TITLE XIII EXTRA-CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY AND UNLAWFUL ENRICHMENT 2

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Chapter 2. Unlawful Enrichment

Section I. General provisions

Art. 2162 – General principle.

Whosoever has derived a gain from the work or property of another without just cause shall indemnify the person at whose expense he has enriched himself to the extent to which he has benefited from his work or property.

Art. 2163 – Loss of enrichment.

(1) Restitution shall not be ordered to the extent to which the person who has received the undue gain can show that he is no longer enriched at the time of the claim for recovery.

(2) Restitution shall be due where the defendant has alienated the enrichment in bad faith or where, at the time of alienating it, he ought to have been aware that he was bound to make restitution.

(3) Where the unlawful enrichment has been transferred without consideration to a third party, the claim for restitution may be brought against the third party.

Section 2. Undue payments

Art. 2164 – Undue payment.

(1) Whosoever has paid what he was not required to pay may recover it.

(2) He may demand restitution of the fruits of the property, or legal interest, from the date on which the payment was made, where the person to whom the payment was made acted in bad faith.

Art. 2165 – Absence of mistake.

Recovery shall not be admitted where a person pays voluntarily and in full knowledge of the facts what he knew he was not bound to pay.

Art. 2166 – Sufficient cause.

(1) Recovery shall not be admitted where the payment was made in the discharge of a barred debt or of a moral obligation.

(2) Recovery shall be admitted in such case where the person who made the payment was not competent to alienate without consideration.

Art. 2167 – Recovery precluded.

(1) The receiver of the undue payment shall owe no restitution where, as a consequence of the payment, he has in good faith destroyed or annulled his title, relinquished the security for his claim or allowed his action against the true debtor to lapse.

(2) In such case, the person who made the undue payment shall have legal redress against the true debtor only.

Section 3. Expenses

Art. 2168 – Scope of this Section.

Where a person is required to return property which has been in his possession for some time, his rights and obligations arising out of any modifications he may have made to the property shall, unless otherwise provided for by law or contract, be subject to the provisions of the following Articles.

Art. 2169 – Necessary expenses.

The person who is required to make restitution shall be entitled to the reimbursement of the expenses he has incurred in preventing the loss or deterioration of the property, unless the expenses were not useful or were rendered necessary by the person’s own fault or by the fault of another person for whom he is liable.

Art. 2170 – Cost of upkeep.

The person who is required to make restitution shall not be entitled to any indemnity for the cost of maintaining the property r in respect of taxes he has paid as a consequence of his possessing it.

Art. 2171- Value added to the property.

(1) Where expenses incurred on the property have increased its value, the person required to make restitution shall be entitled to their reimbursement.

(2) He may not claim more than the increase in value calculated at the time of restitution, resulting from the expenses he has incurred.

Art. 2172 – Bad faith.

(1) The court may, where equity so requires, reduce or refuse any indemnity as provided in Art. 2171 where, at the time when he incurred the expense, the defendant knew or ought to have known of his liability to return the property.

(2) The court may, where equity so requires, grant the plaintiff a period of grace not exceeding two years for payment of the indemnity provided in Art. 2171.

Art. 2173 – Jus tollendi.

A person who is required to make restitution may before returning any part of the property remove anything he has joined to it which can be separated without appreciable damage to the property.

Art. 2174 – Right of retention.

(1) The person required to make restitution may refuse to return the property until he has received payment of the indemnity due to him under the terms of the preceding Articles or until he has received adequate security for its payment on the day on which it is due.

(2) The right of retention may not be invoked by a thief or by a person who, at the time when he took possession of the property, knew that he had no legal right, or right deriving from a valid contract, to it.

Art. 2175 – Deterioration.

(1) The person required to make restitution shall indemnify the true owner where the former has caused the property to deteriorate.

(2) He shall be liable for any deterioration of the property, even where caused by force majeure, where, at the time when it occurred, he knew that he had no legal right, or right, or right deriving from a valid contract, to the property.

Art. 2176 – Loss of the property.

(1) The provisions of Art. 2175 shall apply in the case of total or partial loss of the property.

(2) They shall apply where for any reason whatsoever the property cannot be returned in kind to the person entitled to it.

Art. 2177 – Extent of indemnity.

(1) The indemnity due shall be equal to the value of the property at the time at which it becomes impossible to return it in kind.

(2) Where the person required to make restitution knew at that time that he had no legal right, or right deriving from a valid contract, to the property, additional damages may be claimed from him.

(3) In such case, the person entitled to restitution shall be placed in the position he would have been in, had he retained uninterrupted possession of his property.

Art. 2178 – Fruits.

(1) The person required to make restitution shall retain the fruits of the property he has received.

(2) He shall pay to the plaintiff their value where he knew at the time of taking possession of the property that he had no legal right, or right deriving from a valid contract, to it

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