10 - TORT - Land Flashcards
What is private nuisance?
Any
- continuous activity ⭕️👷♂️
- causing substantial & unreasonable interference 🐘🤪😡
- with a C’s land or their use/employment of that land🏡
Who can sue for private nuisance?
Must have a legal interest in the land (freehold / leasehold)
🏡
Who can be sued for private nuisance?
- Creator of nuisance 🥁
- Occupier of land from which nuisance originates 👫
- Owner of the land 🎩
E.g. - independent contractors (if occupier asks); 👷♂️
- trespassers/visitors/predecessors in title (occupier liable if adopt nuisance); 🦹♂️
- naturally occurring nuisances (occupier liable where they knew & failed to take reasonable steps to abate it) 🪿
What are the cases on who can be sued for private nuisance?
🥁
- occupier liable for excessive noise and dust caused by contractors on his property. 👷🌬️
- water pipe laid unlawfully beneath D’s land causing a flood. D had used pipe (adopted) and so liable. 🪈🚰🌊
- Lighting caused a fire, D doused fire but left embers, fire reignited and damaged C’s property. ⚡️🔥💧🔥
- LL allowed a motor-sport on his land - noise was not inevitable so LL had not participated in nuisance 🎩🏎️👂❌
When can a landlord be liable for a tenant’s nuisance?
- Where they authorised it, 📝✔️
- by actively participating or 🤡🥁🎩🎸
- by leasing, where there was a very high probability that leasing would create the nuisance 🧨
What losses are recoverable for private nuisance?
🥁
- Property damage (more than de minimus) 🏚️
- Sensible personal discomfort (more than fanciful & must materially interfere with ordinary human comfort) 😵💫
Can a claim be made for personal injury under private nuisance?
No 🏡🏠🤕❌
What are the requirements for private nuisance?
- Indirect Interference (intangible e.g noise, fumes) 💨
- Recognised Damage (that is reasonable foreseeable) 🏚️🧐
- Continuous Act (unless a single incident caused by underlying state of affairs or for Ryland v Fletcher) ⭕️
- Unlawful Interference: must be unreasonable considering ordinary usage of a man living in a particular society (consider time/duration; area, abnormal sensitivity; malice; excessive behaviour)🧑⚖️🤡
What are the considerations for ‘Unlawful interference’?
👨⚖️😡
- Time & Duration 🕰️
- Locality 🏡
- Abnormal sensitivity 🌷
- Malice 🤬
- D’s carelessness 🫣
- Excessive behaviour 🤪
What are the exceptions to ‘continuous act’ required for private nuisance?
- factory with metal foil strips, harm was caused in one go, but factory had been warned about leaving strips outside before.
😒🏭💨⚡️😳
What are the cases regarding time & location when considering ‘unlawful interference’ for private nuisance? 🕰️🏡
- motor boats = short lived so less likely to be unlawful 🚤 ⏱️
- Sweet business in a residential area near a Doctor caused a nuisance but may not have been on an industrial estate 🍬🏭🥼🏡
- planning permission can change the nature of the ‘locality’ so what was a nuisance no longer is - e.g. area became a dock with heavy traffic so changed local area = no nuisance 📄🏡🚢🚚
- but PP for a pig pen did not change local area so smell caused nuisance. 📄🐷💩
- speedway with PP in a rural area still caused a nuisance.📄🏡🏎️
What are the cases regarding abnormal sensitivity when considering ‘unlawful interference’ for private nuisance? 🌷
- C’s heat sensitive paper was ruined by the heat from D’s manufacturing business in the cellar. No nuisance as C was abnormally sensitive.
⚙️♨️📰 - C grew orchids, D’s factory fumes damaged plants in general so C could claim as the nuisance was caused generally (thin skull rule).
🌷🏭💨🌲☠️🤕
What are the cases regarding malice when considering ‘unlawful interference’ for private nuisance? 🤬
C was a music teacher who disturbed D. D made noises to get his own back. D’s malice made his interference unlawful
🎼🤬🥁😳
What are the cases regarding defendants lack of care when considering ‘unlawful interference’ for private nuisance?
🫣
Normally neighbours have to put up with a certain amount of noise dust etc. from building works. But may be unlawful if building works could have been less disruptive
🫣🏗️🌬️
What are the cases regarding excessive behaviour when considering ‘unlawful interference’ for private nuisance?
🤪
D owned 100s of pheasants who damaged C’s crops - unlawful.
🤪🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🌾
What defences are there for private nuisance?
🤺
- 20 Years’ Prescription: length of time C could have complained - no action taken within that time ⌛️
- Statutory Authority: where all due care has been exercised & nuisance is an inevitable consequence - oil refinery in Wales 🇬🇧
- Consent: C specifically agrees to D causing nuisance, or shown willingness 🤝
Contributory Negligence - C consented to colliery so must have consented to coal dust🤝🕳️🌬️ - Act of 3rd Party: not liable unless adopt/continue nuisance 🥸
- Act of God: not liable unless adopt/continue it 🧔♀️🌩️
- Necessity 🚨
Is ‘moving to the nuisance’ a defence?
No
🚗🥁❌
What remedies are there for private nuisance?
🥁
- Damages: where nuisance caused physical damage 🪙
- Injunction (most common): full or partial 🚦
- Abatement: self-help
What is public nuisance?
Any act or omission that materially affects a class of people
🤹🫥➡️🧕🏾💂♂️👨🍳👵🧔♂️
Who can sue for public nuisance?
- An individual (who suffered special damage, over/above rest of class)
- Local authority
- Attorney General (where no individual action is possible)
Who can be sued for public nuisance?
- Creator of the nuisance 🥁
- Any person responsible for the nuisance
What must be satisfied for a public nuisance claim?
👥🥁
- Act or Omission 🤹🫥
- One of Event or Continuous 🧨⭕️
- Class: effect must be sufficiently widespread 👩🦱👨🦲👩🦲👩🦰👲
- Materially affects comfort & convenience (annoyance/irritation sufficient as long as it’s material; loss must be reasonably foreseeable)
😡🛋️🌮🧐
What types of damages are recoverable for public nuisance?
👥🥁
- Personal injury 🤕
- Property damage 🏚️
- Consequential econ loss 💰
- Pure econ loss 💸
What defences are there for public nuisance?
same for private minus prescription
❌⌛️
🇬🇧
🤝
🤝🕳️
🥸
🧔♀️
🚨
What remedies are there for public nuisance?
- Damages (only for individual claims) 🪙
- Injunction 🚦
What is the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?
Where something escapes from D’s land to C’s land causing foreseeable damage
🐅🏡🧐🏚️
Who can sue under Rylands v Fletcher?
Must have proprietary interest in land affected
🏡
Who can be sued under Rylands v Fletcher?
- Person who brings, collects & keeps the thing onto the land 🎪
- Person who has control over the land (owner/occupier) 👫🎩
What damage is recoverable for Rylands v Fletcher?
- Property damage 🏚️
- Consequential econ loss 💰
What are the requirements for Rylands v Fletcher?
- C must suffer some damage 🏚️
- D brings thing onto land & accumulates there for own purposes 🐅
- The thing is likely to do mischief if it escapes (must be exceptionally high risk) 🤪🧨
- Escape (can be slow, over a period of time) 🚪
- Escape causes foreseeable harm 🧐
- Non-natural use of land (must be extraordinary & unusual) 👽
what cases are there demonstrating “brings onto land” under Rylands v Fletcher?
- spread of thistles were not brought onto land
🪻
what cases are there demonstrating “mischief” under Rylands v Fletcher?
🤪🧨
pipe carrying water that burst was not ‘exceptionally high risk’ and therefore not likely to cause nuisance.
💧🪈❌🧨
what cases are there demonstrating “escape” under Rylands v Fletcher?
🚪
held tyres on his land which caught fire. Held no RvF as it was the fire that had escaped, not the tyres
🛞 🔥
what cases are there demonstrating “foreseeable harm” under Rylands v Fletcher?
🧐
leather chemical plant had concrete flooring. Chemicals seeped into soil causing damage to C’s borehole 1.3 miles away - claim failed as not reasonably foreseeable that concrete would leak causing damage.
👞💧🪣
What defences are there for Rylands v Fletcher?
🤺
Same for public nuisance &:
- statutory authority 🇬🇧
- Common benefit 🌍
- Consent 🤝
- Contributory negligence 🤝🕳️
- Act of claimant caused escape 🤕🚪
- Act of 3rd party (unforeseeable act of a stranger over whom they had no control) 🥸
- Act of God (unforeseeable natural event)🧔♀️
what cases are there demonstrating “common benefit” defence under Rylands v Fletcher?
🌍
theatre’s sprinkler system went off damaging shop next door. Held that system was for benefit of shop.
💦🏪❌
what cases are there demonstrating “act of claimant” defence under Rylands v Fletcher?
🤕🚪
C dug under D’s canal causing a flood on C’s land.
👷🌊🤦♂️
what cases are there demonstrating “statutory authority” defence under Rylands v Fletcher?
🇬🇧
D was under an obligation to lay a high pressure water pipe. No liability when it burst.
📄🪈🌊
what cases are there demonstrating “act of god” defence under Rylands v Fletcher?
🧔♀️
D had pools on his land, v. heavy rain caused them to burst damaging C’s bridges. No liability as rain act of nature that was unforeseeable
🏊♂️🌧️🌊🧐❌
What remedies are there for Rylands v Fletcher?
- Damages 🪙
- Injunction 🚦
Who can sue under tresspass?
Must have a legal interest in the land. 🏡
If leased/licenced, must be the lessee/licensee that sues. LL can only sue if it affects him beyond the term of the lease.
👫✅
🎩❌
Is damage required to sue in Tresspass?
No
What is required from tresspass?
- direct physical interference 👷
- Intention 💡
What is required for ‘intention’ for trespass?
The intention of carrying out the trespassing act (e.g. walking over a field), not necessarily the intention to trespass.
🚶♂️
What are the defences for trespass?
- Permission 🤝
- Legal authority 🇬🇧
- Necessity 🚨
when must a claim for trespass be made?
within 6 years of the date of action
what are the cases for trespass
- shop sign invaded airspace 🪧
- extractor fan at 4.5m invade airspace 👨🍳
- areal photos not invading airspace 📸
- oil wells under persons’ house 🛢️
