Unjust Acquisition of Property

under Soviet law, the acquisition and retention of property by one person at the expense of another without legal or contractual grounds or on grounds that have since lapsed. In such cases an obligation to return such property arises. If it is impossible to return the object itself, there must be compensation equal to its value as of the moment of acquisition and also for all income drawn from it after the individual in question either learned or should have learned that the property had been received unjustly. For example, unjust acquisition of property by a creditor occurs when a debtor mistakenly repays the same debt twice or pays more than the amount due.

Author’s royalties or monetary awards made for inventions and efficiency proposals that were overpaid or paid on grounds that have since lapsed cannot be recovered if the payment was made voluntarily by the organization and involved neither an error in calculation nor bad faith on the part of the recipient. Payments made on the basis of a court order that is later reversed on appeal in cases related to labor disputes, alimony collection, and liability compensation are also not subject to recovery, so long as the original decision was not based on false information or false documentation submitted by the plaintiff. Excessive pension payments also cannot be recovered, except when payment was made as a result of an abuse committed by the pensioner.

The term “unjust enrichment” is used similarly under civil law in the capitalist countries.