Peter Brian Herrenden Birks (3 October 1941 – 6 July 2004) was the Regius Professor of Civil Law at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

from 1989 until his death. He also became a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1989, and an honorary

Queen's counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1995. He was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...

. He is widely credited as having sparked academic enthusiasm for the English law of

Restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

, and is often considered to have been one of the greatest English legal scholars of the 20th century. In his obituary, he was described as "a key figure in the extraordinary development of the law of restitution in the last 45 years".

Career

Birks was educated at

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School is a mixed-sex grammar school with academy status located in Hurst Road ( A222), Sidcup in the London Borough of Bexley, England. It is located adjacent to Lamorbey Park, the Rose Bruford College drama sc ...

, went up to

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

and subsequently obtained a master of laws from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Birks was also the first general editor of ''English Private Law'', a book which sought to summarise and rationalise the entire scope of English private law, in accordance with Birks' own passionate belief for order and characterisation within a discipline (law) which he regarded as too eclectic and inconsistent. He also wrote ''An Introduction to the Law of Restitution'' and ''Unjust Enrichment'', and wrote some 142 contributions to legal reviews. In ''

Woolwich Building Society v Inland Revenue Commissioners ''Woolwich Equitable Building Society v Inland Revenue Commissioners'' 993AC 70 is an English unjust enrichment law case, concerning to what extent enrichment of the defendant must be at the expense of the claimant. It related to the payment of ...

'' the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

substantially adopted the reasoning set out in an academic essay by Birks, described in the judgment of Lord Goff as "powerful". Birks was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 2001.

Biography

Peter Birks arrived at his Kent grammar school (Chislehurst and Sidcup) in 1957 after a year at Repton and after spending his childhood in India. His daughter is the model Laura Bailey. Birks died of cancer, aged 62, on 6 July 2004.Obituary: Peter Birks , Education , The Guardian
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Bibliography

;Books *''An Introduction to the Law of Restitution'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1988) *''Unjust Enrichment'' (Clarendon, 2004) *''English Private Law'' (OUP, 2000) *''Restitution: The future (Federation Press, 1992)'' ;Articles *'Before We Begin: Five Keys to Land Law', in S Bright & J Dewar, ''Land Law: Themes and Perspectives'' (OUP 1998) 457-86
Compulsory Subjects: Will the Seven Foundations ever Crumble?
9951 Web JCLI
The Implied Contract Theory of Quasi-Contract: Civilian Opinion Current in the Century before Blackstone
(1986) 6(1) OJLS 46–85

References

External links

Jack Beatson, 'Peter Birks' (Obituary), ''The Guardian'' (16 July 2004), accessed 18 August 2009

Obituary from the Oxford Comparative Law faculty
*
Peter Birks Memorial Fund
* Gabor Hamza: The Classification (divisio) into ‘Branches’ of Modern Legal Systems (Orders) and Roman Law Traditions. In: European Journal of Law Reform 8 (2006) pp. 361–382. {{DEFAULTSORT:Birks, Peter Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford 1941 births 2004 deaths English legal scholars English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Academics of University College London Alumni of University College London Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Southampton Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom Fellows of the British Academy Regius Professors of Civil Law (University of Oxford) People educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Honorary King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers