In a ruling filed on Thursday in United States District Court of Massachusetts, Judge Rya Zobel wrote that though the Reichel family had claimed restitution of other property stolen by the Nazis during World War II, it had never sought the painting.
The teen stole jewelry including her husband's wedding band and a necklace Koster got as an anniversary gift, and in court, Koster says the teen spat at her to intimidate her from claiming restitution.
The ultimate issue on this appeal is the enforceability of a liquidated damages clause as a defense to a claim of restitution by purchasers in default on a land sale contract.
Recognition of a claim in restitution is, furthermore, consistent with the economic functions that the law of contracts is designed to serve.
A claim in restitution, although legal in form, is equitable in nature, and permits a trial court to balance the equities, to take into account a variety of competing principles to determine whether the defendant has been unjustly enriched.
Only partial performance triggers a claim for restitution, and partial performance will not, in the ordinary course of events, have been more injurious to the innocent party than total nonperformance.
The secret of the bidders' willingness to take their chances as they operated anonymously over the telephone probably lies in the "Illyrian" qualifier — Ancient Illyria straddled several republics from the former Yugoslavia, limiting the risk of any one of these countries being able to back up a claim to restitution with compelling arguments.
Since 1995, the South African government has settled more than 12,000 claims seeking restitution for lands seized during apartheid, with more than 50,000 claims outstanding.
