Restitution means compensating a person for loss or injury.
In civil cases, restitution is a remedy associated with unjust enrichment in which the amount of recovery is typically based on the defendant’s gain rather than the plaintiff's loss.
For example, in Vasic v. PatentHealth, L.L.C., the United States District Court for the Southern District of California noted that under the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), a private plaintiff may sue for injunctive relief and restitution. The restitution would compel the defendant to return the money obtained through the unfair business practice, but the plaintiff needs to establish that it has suffered an injury-in-fact.
Further, in People ex rel. Harris v. Aguayo, the Court of Appeals of California, Second Appellate District, Division Two discussed how restitution under the UCL includes both restoring the victims of what they rightfully own and allowing plaintiffs to recover money or property in which they have a vested interest. California trial courts are also permitted to order restitution to deter future unfair business practices and prevent violators of the UCL from benefiting unfairly.
In criminal cases, restitution refers to compensation for loss that a criminal would pay to a victim as part of a criminal sentence or as a condition of probation.
In Norwood v. State, the Supreme Court of Nevada held that restitution may include a victim’s medical costs for the treatment of the injuries directly resulting from the crime. In addition, the same Court concluded in Nied v. State that restitution should adequately compensate victims for economic losses or expenses directly related to the criminal offense and necessary to make the victim whole. For example, expenses associated with a suicide attempt should be compensated if the evidence establishes a direct relationship between the suicide attempt to the crime. Also, in deciding the amount of restitution, a district court should not consider reimbursement by the victim’s insurance provider because that would benefit the defendant, but reimbursements by the defendant’s insurance provider to the victim should be offset to avoid duplicating payments to the victim.
[Last updated in March of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]