Annotation

The article covers and reviews the civil law issue of the correlation of obligations arising from unjust enrichment and other civil right protection means. The author emphasizes the universal and subsidiary nature of a claim arising from unjust enrichment. Relevance of the research topic is proven by the ongoing discussion in the civil law doctrine as to the place and functional designation of obligations arising from unjust enrichment in the system of civil right protection means. The problem of their correlation with other protective institutions, primarily with vindication and obligations arising from tort, represents a classic issue, which nevertheless has not lost its scientific and practical significance. Its complexity stems from the dual nature of a claim arising from unjust enrichment, which, on the one hand, is aimed at protection of property rights, but on the other hand, operates within the property gain and enrichment categories, bringing it closer to rights under an obligation. The absence of clear material and procedural demarcation criteria often gives rise to legal uncertainty and competition of claims, thereby necessitating a systematic analysis. The main attention is paid to the demarcation of claims arising from unjust enrichment and vindicatory, restitutionary, tortious, and contractual claims. The author analyzes in detail such differentiation criteria as integrity of a specifically identified item (for demarcation from vindication), presence of a valid or invalid transaction (for demarcation from restitution), need to prove illegality and guilt (for demarcation from tort), and existence of an effective contractual relation. Based on an analysis of publications by the leading Russian civil law experts, the author concludes that correct demarcation of these institutions is of primary importance for the determination of the subject of proving, burden of proving, limitation periods, and, ultimately, for the successful trial in general. The article streamlines approaches to the application of the principle of subsidiarity of a claim arising from unjust enrichment enshrined in Clause 3, Art. 1103 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.