Nuisance Flashcards
What is private nuisance and what are the key elements of this tort?
Private nuisance is an unlawful interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of land or some rights over it.
To prove private nuisance, the claimant must establish:
1. Interference: There must be interference with:
* The claimant’s use and enjoyment of land.
* A right associated with the land (e.g., right to light).
2. Unlawful Interference: The interference must be substantial and unreasonable.
Key Case: Hunter v Canary Wharf [1997]
* Identified three types of interference:
1. Encroachment: e.g., overhanging tree branches.
2. Physical Damage: e.g., pollution causing harm to land.
3. Loss of Amenity: Noise, smells, vibration, or dust affecting quiet enjoyment.
Examples:
* Walter v Selfe (1851): Interference must affect “ordinary comfort”, not “elegant or dainty modes of living”.
* Aldred’s Case (1610): Loss of a view is not actionable.
Modern Rule: TV or satellite disruption is not actionable unless it causes substantial loss (Hunter v Canary Wharf).
What does “unlawful interference” mean, and how do courts determine this?
- “Unlawful” means substantial and unreasonable interference.
- The courts balance interests between the defendant’s rights to use their land and the claimant’s right to enjoy their land.
Key Principles:
1. Substantial: More than minor inconvenience; must materially impact the claimant.
2. Unreasonable: Beyond what is expected in daily life.
Case: Sedleigh-Denfield v O’Callaghan [1940]
* Balancing test: What is reasonable according to the “ordinary usages of society”?
Example:
* Acceptable: Everyday traffic noise in a city.
* Unacceptable: Loud industrial machinery in a residential area.
What factors do courts consider in deciding if interference is substantial and unreasonable?
- Duration and Frequency: Continuous, frequent interferences are more likely unlawful.
- Example: A cricket club’s occasional ball hitting a neighbor’s garden is not actionable, but weekly incidents would be (Harriet’s Cricket Example).
- Extent of Harm: Interferences causing physical damage to land are automatically unreasonable.
- Case: Jeff plays excessively loud music; harm depends on its impact on Anna’s enjoyment.
- Character of the Neighborhood:
* Rural areas tolerate farm smells; cities tolerate noise.
- Case: Coventry v Lawrence [2014] clarified the locality test—defendant’s activities causing nuisance are disregarded.
- Public Benefit: Irrelevant to liability but may affect remedies (e.g., injunctions).
* Case: Adams v Ursell (1913) (smelly chip shop). - Malice: If interference is motivated by spite, it will likely be unlawful.
- Case: Hollywood Silver Fox Farm v Emmett [1936] – Shooting near foxes during breeding was malicious.
How does abnormal sensitivity affect a nuisance claim?
- The claimant cannot rely on abnormal sensitivity unless normal use of the land is also affected.
- If normal use is impacted, the claimant can recover all losses, even those caused by sensitivity.
Key Cases:
1. Robinson v Kilvert (1889): Heat damaged sensitive paper but would not affect normal paper → Claim failed.
2. McKinnon Industries v Walker (1951): Defendant’s fumes damaged orchids and ordinary plants → Claim succeeded.
Rule: If an interference is unlawful when judged by normal standards, the claimant can recover for all consequential losses.
Who is eligible to bring a claim in private nuisance?
- Only those with a proprietary interest in the land can sue (e.g., owners, tenants).
Case: Hunter v Canary Wharf [1997]
* Owner-occupiers and tenants with exclusive possession can sue.
* Hotel guests, family members, or licensees (non-exclusive possession) cannot sue.
Example:
* Eligible: A tenant whose property is damaged by excessive noise.
* Not Eligible: A child living in the property or a hotel guest.
Who can be sued in private nuisance?
- Creator of the Nuisance: Remains liable even if they no longer occupy the land.
- Example: Faulty pipes installed by a previous owner causing damage.
- Occupier of the Land:
* Liable for nuisances they create, adopt, or continue.
* Case: Sedleigh-Denfield v O’Callaghan (1940) – Failure to fix a nuisance caused by a trespasser made the occupier liable. - Landlord: Liable if:
* They authorised the nuisance.
* The nuisance existed at the start of the tenancy.
* They covenanted (promised) to repair the property but failed.
* Case: Tetley v Chitty [1986] – Landlord leased land for noisy go-karting.
What defences are available in private nuisance?
- Prescription: Nuisance has continued for 20+ years against the claimant.
- Case: Sturges v Bridgman (1879).
2. Statutory Authority: Nuisance arises from an activity permitted by law. - Case: Allen v Gulf Oil Refining Ltd [1981].
3. Contributory Negligence: Claimant’s actions contributed to the loss.
4. Consent: Claimant agreed to the interference (Volenti).
5. Act of God/Nature: Natural causes unless adopted or continued by the occupier. - Example: Subsidence caused by natural erosion.
- Case: Sturges v Bridgman (1879).
Ineffective Defences:
* “Coming to the nuisance” (e.g., moving near a factory).
* Public benefit (e.g., factory providing jobs does not excuse noise pollution).
What types of damage can be recovered, and what remedies are available?
- Types of Damage:
- Physical damage to land or property.
- Loss of amenity (quiet enjoyment).
- Consequential losses (e.g., business interruption).
- Case: Hunter v Canary Wharf – Personal injury is not recoverable; negligence applies instead.
2. Causation and Remoteness: - Apply the “but for” test and Wagon Mound rule (reasonable foreseeability).
- Case: Cambridge Water Co v Eastern Counties Leather [1994].
3. Remedies: - Damages: Monetary compensation for losses.
- Injunctions: Court order stopping the nuisance (e.g., preventing noise).
- Abatement: Self-help remedy (e.g., trimming overhanging branches).
Can a defendant avoid liability by arguing that their actions alone did not cause the nuisance?
No, it is not a defence that a nuisance results from the combined actions of several people. Each contributor can still be held liable.
* Example: At a fair, several stalls play music. The combined noise creates a nuisance. Each stallholder playing music will be liable.
* Key Principle: Nuisance liability does not depend on the sole cause but on whether the defendant’s actions contributed to the nuisance.
Does planning permission provide a defence to a nuisance claim?
No, planning permission does not legitimise a nuisance because only Parliament (via legislation) can remove private rights to sue.
* Wheeler v Saunders [1995]: A farmer obtained planning permission to build a pig unit, but this did not prevent liability for the smell and noise affecting nearby holiday cottages.
* However, planning permission may change the character of a neighbourhood, influencing whether an interference is unlawful:
* Gillingham BC v Medway Docks Co Ltd [1992]: Planning permission for a container port changed the locality’s character, making noise and vibrations lawful.
* Coventry v Lawrence [2014]: Conditions in planning permission (e.g., noise limits) can assist claimants in proving nuisance.
What remedies are available for nuisance claims?
The two main remedies are:
1. Damages: Compensation for harm already suffered.
* Types:
* Physical damage: Costs to repair land/buildings or loss in property value.
* Personal discomfort: Loss of amenity value (Hunter v Canary Wharf).
- Injunctions: Court orders preventing or regulating future interference.
* Example (Halsey v Esso Petroleum Co): A houseowner successfully claimed damages and an injunction for acid smuts, noise, and smells from a nearby oil depot.
What are the types of injunctions available in nuisance claims?
- Prohibitory injunction: Stops the defendant from continuing wrongful acts.
- Example: Preventing excessive noise.
- Mandatory injunction: Requires the defendant to take positive action to fix harm caused.
* Example: Removing waste causing a nuisance. - Quia Timet injunction: Prevents anticipated damage before it occurs.
* Requirements:
* Imminent danger.
* Almost certain damage.
* Defendant will not stop without the court’s order.
What is abatement, and how can it be used in nuisance claims?
Abatement is the removal of the nuisance by the affected party without court involvement.
* Rules for abatement:
* Prior notice must usually be given unless:
* It’s an emergency, or
* The interference can be removed without entering the wrongdoer’s land.
* Example:
* Samir cuts overhanging branches from Terry’s tree without notice because he does not need to enter Terry’s land. The branches, however, still belong to Terry and must be returned.
What are the elements of the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?
- The defendant brings onto their land something likely to cause mischief if it escapes.
- Example: Water, sewage, fire, or electricity.
- Transco v Stockport MBC [2003]: The risk of escape must be exceptionally high to satisfy this requirement.
- There is an escape of the thing onto neighbouring land.
* Case: Stannard v Gore [2012] – Tyres catching fire did not count as escape because the fire itself had not been “brought” onto the land. - The use of the land must be non-natural (extraordinary or unusual use).
- Example: Explosives are extraordinary, but water pipes are natural (Transco).
- The escape causes foreseeable damage of the relevant type.
- Case: Cambridge Water Co v Eastern Counties Leather Plc – The damage must be reasonably foreseeable
What is public nuisance, and what are its elements?
Public nuisance is a crime that also gives rise to a tort claim where individuals suffer particular harm beyond what is suffered by the general public.
Elements:
1. Conduct that materially affects the reasonable comfort of a “class” of people.
* Example: Putrefying waste affecting an entire neighbourhood.
2. The claimant suffers particular harm (e.g., personal injury, property damage, or economic loss).
* Example: A car driver struck by golf balls from a nearby course (Castle v St Augustine’s Links).
