restitutio in integrum

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In Roman law, a restoration to the previous condition, effected by the pretor for equitable causes, on the prayer of an injured party, by annulling a transaction valid by the strict law, or annulling a change in the legal condition produced by an omission, and restoring the parties to their previous legal relations. After equitable defense and claim had been introduced in the ordinary proceeding, the importance of the institution diminished. In English and American law the phrase is used when a court of equity annuls a transaction or contract and orders the restoration of what has been received or given under it.