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
❌⌛️
🇬🇧
🤝
🤝🕳️
🥸
🧔♀️
🚨
